The Sushi Economy

by on April 9, 2007 at 7:27 am in Books, Food and Drink | Permalink

The centers of the sushi economy in the twenty-first century are sites of exchange and connection.  Today, the places with the freshest fish — and often, the telltale aroma that draws attention to such privileged locations — are airport cargo hangars and refrigerated storage facilities located near highway interchanges.

That is from the splendid The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy, by Sasha Issenberg.  Most people do not know how much sushi is shipped across borders, and how much the very "freshest" fish has in fact been frozen.

6 comments

Peter April 9, 2007 at 9:18 am

Most fish used for sushi in the United States is frozen in order to kill any parasites it might be harboring. The exception is tuna, which is naturally less wormy than other fish.

Strictly speaking, “sushi” does not mean raw fish, but rather the special rice on which it is commonly served. “Sashimi” means the fish itself.

Tom April 9, 2007 at 10:46 am

I spent 15 years in the restaurant business as a chef and please let me debunk the myth of fresh fish.

Most sashimi-grade fish IS frozen and that’s a good thing. One of my first jobs was at an Alaskan seafood restaurant. The chef-owner was a former commercial fisherman from Alaska. He told me horror stories.

Frozen fish is taken from the water, gutted on the deck, and tossed into a blast freezer where it is frozen solid in about 5-8 seconds. It then is brought to market frozen, where it is oftentimes unfrozen for sale.

Fresh fish is caught, gutted, and thrown into bins of crushed ice which are replenished as needed. A typical fishing trip is about 6 weeks. The fixed costs are too high to go out for a single day at a time. So the “fresh” fish is sitting on ice, bruising and bathing in a mixture of melting ice and fish juice for up to 6 weeks. Sounds appetizing…add on a flight from locales such as Alaska and the New York diner is eating month and a half old fish that he paid a premium for as “fresh”.

Obviously this is an extreme scenario, but shorten that time to a week and it remains as unappetizing.

GVV April 9, 2007 at 11:35 am

What is “sushi”? Unknown to Indian blog readers.
If I write about “Idli”,”Vada” and “Sambar”without telling what they mean,then what will be your reaction?

Shaun April 9, 2007 at 3:55 pm

The difference, GVV, is that you can find good sushi widely available in 20 countries (or more) around the globe. Idi and Vada, not so much…

Growing up along the Chesapeake Bay, eating fresh seafood was never an issue for me. Since moving to Montreal, it is one of the things I have come to miss. Sure, we have trout and lobster in summer, but the variety is so much less and shellfish (outside of Lobster) is atrocious.

Chewxy April 10, 2007 at 6:51 am

Stupid question: How do you keep fish fresh if you do not freeze them?

sdsds August 5, 2007 at 9:18 pm

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