... with reference to Strange Foreign Foods, I've been meaning to get back to   
   James on the topic of sushi for awhile now.  Restaurants which serve sushi are   
   almost as ubiquitous as coffee shops in Vancouver these days.  Yet many of the   
   locals still recoil in horror & exclaim "Oh, no... I can't stand raw fish!" at   
   the very mention of the word.  Here's my take on it:   
      
    1)  Some people don't like fish, period.  I can accept that.  But fear of the   
    unknown is a very different matter... and ignorance is curable.   
      
    2)  Sushi = a rice roll.  Carol Shenkenberger... whom you may or may not know   
    from other echoes, but who actually lived in Japan for awhile... says so.  As   
    one who checks up on such assertions regardless of the source I verified this   
    data by consulting additional sources & I agree with Carol.   
      
    3)  A rice roll is the Japanese equivalent of a sandwich.  It may contain raw   
    and/or cooked ingredients.  You could choose a vegetarian rice roll if you're   
    squeamish about the idea of eating raw fish.  But if you've ever lived on the   
    Pacific or Atlantic Coast, it's not hard to determine whether fish/seafood is   
    raw or cooked.  In my personal favourites... i.e. California rolls & Dynamite   
    rolls... it's cooked.  How do I know??  The same way one knows whether a hunk   
    of meat or an egg has been cooked.  Cooking alters the colour, the smell, and   
    the texture as well as the taste.  And (speaking as an ex-waitress) it's part   
    of the server's job to help you interpret the menu when called upon to do so.   
      
    4)  If Antonio's restaurant advertises spaghetti & pizza on its sign, I don't   
    imagine that's all it offers.  Japanese restaurants offer beef & chicken too.   
    (For anyone on a low-carb diet, I would definitely recommend asparagus beef.)   
      
    5)  You've heard that some kind of raw fish can kill you if it's not prepared   
    correctly?  No worries AFAIC.  The cost of a single serving is as much as the   
    average family of four probably spends on groceries in a whole week....  :-))   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)