Chatter from our Dean of Deliciousness, Rachel
Well, what a day at the office folks! Where else can you say that on a Tuesday you learned to roll Sushi? Our Executive Chef Matt Chatfield offered to teach me just this during this Tuesdays’ Japanese inspired staff lunch! Now I know why his sushi classes are so darn popular!
Somehow Sushi always seemed like it would be so complicated, so precise to me. Â I’m more of a whirlwind in the kitchen, a tornado of culinary activity. Â I can cook like a mad woman, awesome sauces, inventive dishes, but for some reason sushi has always left me stumped. Â Apparently what I needed was someone to explain things to me… imagine that?
Chef Matt is great at taking something you might think is intimidating, and breaking down the steps. Â He explained the rice, how much to spread, the importance of wet hands, and how much seasoning is nice on the rice, and then he showed me how to roll it all up, all the while I was thinking… “Sure buddy, but you’re the Chef, how many sushi rolls have you made before? Â I’m sure MY sushi won’t look like that!”
Then I gave it a whirl… guess what?? It was easy AND it looked like sushi! (I was pretty sure mine would end up looking more like sushi explosion) Â OK sure, I’m not going to compete with Iron Chef Morimoto or anything but…. it totally looked at least as good as many a sushi roll I’ve eaten at high priced Sushi joints around town. So then I made more, and more, and then it started to be really fun!
Matt gave me helpful hints on how to make sure my sushi fillings end up in the middle, not off to the side like a couple of rolls were, and told me to practice on veggie rolls at home… veggie sushi can be made for just pennies, instead of the high pricetag you’ll pay to have them at a restaurant, or even the deli counter at the grocery store! Â So that’s what I’ll be up to this week, practicing sushi, in fact I think I’ll sign up for Matt’s next Flavorful Weekend Night Sushi Class on July 9th!
What a deal, learn to make sushi, eat a bunch of sushi, and after that I’ll have the skills to host my own sushi party! Hope to see you on the 9th!