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ICHIZEN Japan Restaurant

The history of Sushi: the origins

Updated: Oct 17, 2021


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In ancient Japan, raw fish was an important source of protein for people, although parts of central Japan (e.g., Gifu, Nagano) preferred insects. Indeed, the consumption of raw fish is imported from China around 500 BC. This will give birth to the sashimi. It was not until the 14th century, during the Muromachi period, that sushi prepared with vinegar appeared in inarizushi to improve the preservation and taste of the ingredients. The vinegar gradually allowed the fermentation of the rice.


Sushi Zurich

Uramakizushi or American rolls are not native to Japan and are not common there. Like them, salmon was subsequently introduced in the 1980s. And while sushi had originated in Japan, they have been spread throughout the entire world.

The term "sushi" appeared in the Oxford dictionary in the 1870s-1890s. Sushi landed relatively soon after its birth in the Anglo-Saxon world and, more precisely, in the United States, with the enormous wave of Japanese emigration. The Chinese would suffer discrimination, the famous "yellow peril". And the first sushi dish tasted by non-Japanese people was reported in a Californian newspaper in 1904. Sushi quickly spread to the far reaches of the American West and was very popular in 1905. The dish did not reach Europe until several decades later, after the war in the United States; sushi experienced a major widespread expansion. It was between the 60s and 70s that the famous "California roll" seemed to be born.



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