Summer Reading

The Connoisseur's Guide to Sushi: Everything You Need to Know about Sushi Varieties and Accompaniments, Etiquette and Dining Tips, and More

by Dave Lowry

Harvard Common Press, 297 pp., $14 (paper)

The old saying tells us that if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, but if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for life. In the case of Dave Lowry's The Connoisseur's Guide to Sushi, the lesson is "give a man a fish, and then teach him about tasting all the different species." This easy-to-read and highly informative guide is a must for all sushi lovers and a fabulously funny and witty summer read.

Lowry doesn't bother with providing the same old "how-to" of sushi-making, nor does he provide recipes of any kind. The book is a compendium of sushi history, etiquette, and rituals that provide an in-depth look at one of the most popular trends to come out of Japan since Hello Kitty. From different sushi styles to ingredients, condiments, beverage pairing, and sushi bar "dos and don'ts," it contains a mind-boggling array of information pertinent to becoming, in Lowry's words, "a sushi snob." It begins with an introduction to the history of sushi followed by "the basics," describing the many different preparations of sushi rice and styles of sushi, its toppings, and its fillings. It then dives fully into the A-to-Z guide to fish, which explains the complexity of nomenclature. Properly ordering at a sushi bar may prove confusing, not only because several species share the same name in English, but because different cuts of the same species usually have different names in Japanese. Personally, I feel that a note on the depletion of fisheries worldwide and responsible fish eating could have been in order, but perhaps he feels that is up to each consumer.