SUPERMARKET SUSHI

I had supermarket sushi today. I wonder about supermarket sushi; it’s much like Chinese takeaway or Dolmio - you’d not want to show it off to a Japanese (Chinese, Italian, etc.) person.

But it must have some origin in authenticity. It might have evolved from real sushi, it might have been tailored for the Waitrose palate, or be some sort of idealised version of what our perception of sushi is, but it surely has its roots in the real thing? Right?

Anyway. Today’s selection was salmon rolls, complete with a sachet of soy sauce, flakes of ginger, and a small packet of wasabi - which is very much the exploding kitten of the pack, isn’t it. My method (once I’ve nearly broken my thumbs trying to get the sachets open) is to add a little of each to each roll, and then wolf them down one by one, stopping only to wince as the wasabi burns through my sinuses like sparklers up the nostrils.

I don’t know; maybe I’d get on better with fresh, real sushi, prepared by the generational collision of wisdom and related experience, and local ingredients. I don’t know what I truly expect from supermarket sushi, but I suppose authenticity might be a hope too high for a mass-produced ‘impression’ of the real thing.

To be honest, I’d quite prefer a cheese sandwich, like a plain-old English Joe, but well, you know, the cheese don’t agree with me no more innit. So alternative it is. Maybe next time I’ll leave the wasabi out of it.