Sushi zen

If you are a good enough storyteller, you can make anything interesting. Mark Kurlansky is an expert at this. His 300-page book about cod and his 500-page history of salt are both fascinating. (Who knew salt was interesting?). Trevor Corson is another wonderful nonfiction author who can weave a great tale around anything. His new book The Zen of Fish: the story of sushi, from samurai to supermarket, is great. The bulk of the book follows the trials and tribulations of a few students at an L.A.-based sushi chef school (say that 3 times fast). The Japanese are as religious about their sushi as the French are about their sauces, and the students are in for a trying time as they learn about the techniques, aesthetics, and imagination necessary for being a great sushi chef. Various events during the course of their training also offer perfect segues for Corson to explain about some of the history of sushi, fish farming, the L.A. restaurant scene, and the natural history of various fish. This is a really fun book, even if you hate sushi.