Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2021. 223 pp. (B&W photos, coloured photos, illustrations.) US$25.00, cloth. ISBN 9781789143836.
From a funazushi (crucian carp fermented in salt and rice) recipe published in 1689 Japan, to a maguro nigiri sushi recipe published in 1956 Hawai‘i, to a sushi doughnut prepared by Jordan Sclare in London, what can we learn from the ways sushi has evolved since its initial conception in mid-sixth-century China? In Oishii: The History of Sushi, Eric Rath argues that the history of sushi can tell us “how one food has changed to meet the needs and desires of an increasing number of consumers as it has matured into a global cuisine” (28).
In Oishii, Rath brings into conversation culinary books published in China, Japan, and the United States to document the historical development and variety of sushi. By comparing recipes from different historical periods, Rath reiterates the dynamic nature of sushi by claiming that it is “not a food that is frozen in time, but instead demonstrates a development that can be traced in the historical record” (20). I am curious if this utilization of recipes as empirical evidence can be seen as an evolution in Rath’s methodology. In his 2010 publication, Food and Fantasy in Early Modern Japan, he claims that “Culinary books popularized ideal forms of cooking and dining premised on the idea that these could be enjoyed as forms of vicarious pleasure in the same way that popular literature and guidebooks offered readers descriptions of exotic locations they might never travel to in real life” (Eric Rath, Food and Fantasy in Early Modern Japan, 1st ed., Berkeley: UC Press, 2010, 98). In Oishii, it seems Rath has found a happy medium between “vicarious consumption” and “practical knowledge” by highlighting the varying forms of sushi in these culinary books as the empirical evidence for its ever-changing form and function throughout history.
To this day, sushi has the reputation of being a Japanese rice-based food, yet Rath argues against that notion by citing The Important Arts for the People’s Welfare (Qimin yaoshu), which was compiled in mid-sixth-century China and provides the oldest directions on record for making sushi through lactic acid fermentation. The association of sushi being a rice-based dish has its roots in past historiography produced by Japanese sushi historians such as Shinoda Osamu and Ishige Naomichi, who focused on the ingredients of modern sushi (rice and polished rice), tracing the origin to Southeast Asia. Both Shinoda and Ishige agree that sushi came to Japan along with rice paddy agriculture around 300 BCE. Rath challenges this in two folds. First, he acknowledges Ishige’s long-affirmed belief of rice being central to Japanese civilization. Defining sushi’s arrival to Japan with rice, not only limits the definition of sushi to “rice food,” but also solidifies sushi’s central place within Japanese culinary identity. The second is the accessibility of rice to the public throughout Japanese history. Rice only supplied 25 percent of food energy to most Japanese people throughout the seventeenth century, while the other 75 percent was supplied through other grains, vegetables, and protein (37–38). The acknowledgment of sushi made with other ingredients besides rice, not only changes the definition of sushi but also undermines the explanation of how sushi came to Japan. Rath instead focuses on the preparation and the taste associated with lactic acid fermentation through the use of rice and other grains as the key aspect in defining its initial conception. A shortcoming of lactic acid fermentation is that it takes time. During the Edo period, merchants shifted preparation techniques to shorten the time while still maintaining the flavour associated with sushi by incorporating vinegar and sugar to season the rice rather than letting it ferment on its own. This preparation technique has become a mainstay to this day.
Besides the evolution of preparation methods from lactic acid fermentation to seasoning the rice with vinegar and sugar, the function and role of sushi has changed throughout history as well. In its original conception during the medieval period, court banquets served sushi to aristocrats, focusing on the aesthetics. During the Edo period, sushi evolved to a street food enjoyed by ordinary people due to the new preparation techniques and shift from freshwater to saltwater fish, as Edo Bay became established as the centre of the domestic trade network. In the modern era, sushi transitioned from a casual street food to a more sophisticated dish served at restaurants, leading to the professionalization of chefs, emergence of critics, and the international boom of sushi. Even within this era, sushi’s image changes from readily accessible street food to luxury item, back to accessible item through conveyor belts and supermarkets. Interestingly, it has followed a similar path in Japan as internationally, constantly evolving throughout history.
Rath’s book is organized into seven sections, starting with the question of “What is sushi?” to determine the starting point and historiographical framework of sushi’s history. The next six sections are composed chronologically. The first three chapters regarding the origin of sushi in the early modern era focus on its changing depiction in culinary books, while the next three chapters showcase the dish during modern Japan and its global spread by focusing on the newly emerging ways to purchase and consume it.
In the last ten years, we have seen a spike in scholarship regarding Japanese food history and culture, mainly as a response to the Japanese government’s application to designate washoku as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013, challenging the notion of washoku as a truly traditional Japanese cuisine rooted in history. Publications such as Branding Japanese Food (2020) by Katarzyna Cwiertka and Miho Yasuhara, Devouring Japan (2018) edited by Nancy Stalker, and Japan’s Cuisines (2016) by Eric Rath, to name a few, have all pointed out the foreign origin and influence on the creation of cuisines we may consider as Japanese today. In regards to publications focusing on one specific Japanese dish, Barak Kushner (2012) and George Solt (2014) have analyzed ramen, but Rath may be the first historian to focus on the history of sushi. Interestingly, many of the scholars named above began in research areas unrelated to food but brought in their own expertise when analyzing food. This not only shows the interdisciplinary nature of food studies but also how integrated food is when talking about history and culture.
Oishii is a welcome addition to the fields of both Japanese history and food studies. It is a reader-friendly and informative text, full of images and excerpts from culinary books that will appeal to a wide range of readers from academics to general readers alike. This book is also a valuable resource for undergraduate teaching.
Sora Skye Osuka
University of Arizona, Tucson