In article >,
Nathalie Chiva > wrote:

> On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 19:46:14 -0600, Elaine Parrish >
> wrote:
>
> >
> >I don't know who said what, so I clipped everybody's name (E,t <g>)
> >>
> >> > Example: I don't eat raw fish. I know that lots of people adore sushi
> >> > bars, but I can't bring myself to try it.
> >>
> >
> >I don't eat raw fish, either (I don't eat much fish of any kind).
> >
> >A friend of mine adores sushi and I like tempura well enough to get
> >through an evening of her great company. I wasn't sure I was
> >going enjoy sitting across the table from her, though. However, when her
> >sushi plate came, there were two shrimp things (a cube of cold rice,
> >shrimp on top, wrapped in a dark green weed [seaweed?}).
> >
> >Both the shrimp were pink. I didn't know enough about the other fish to
> >know whether or not it was cooked. A little investigating proved that it
> >was, too.
> >
> >Tee hee hee. All the folks that I know that were bragging about eating raw
> >fish were either misinformed or just rattling everyone else's cage.
>
> I assure you that when I eat sushi, the fish is raw, except for the
> shrimp. The restaurant ypou went to obviously doesn't want to deal
> with raw fish (has to be fresh of the day etc.) and does what my local
> supermarket does, serves "cooked fish sushi" (an oxymoron IMO).
>
> Nathalie in Switzerland

Well, it's rather complex. Not all traditional sushi is raw -- besides
the most common preparation of shrimp, octopus is cooked, oftentimes
eel is cooked, scrambled egg is a common sushi item, etc. On the other
hand, shrimp may also be served raw (as "ama ebi") -- with the heads
then served on the side deep-fried. I'm not sure how "traditional" it
is, but lots of very good American sushi bars serve "dragon rolls" of
deep-fried soft-shell crab or similar ingredients. Salmon is quite
frequently cooked in various hand rolls, etc., etc. Sushi is all
about _emphasizing_ the unique tastes of the ingredients, and if that
means cooking them, fine. Most of the time, in most sushi bars, most
of the fish items are raw. But it is hardly a universal rule!

It is also, if well done, so damned "pretty" that I can hardly imagine
even the most squeamish of fellow diners having any problem watching
me eat the raw stuff, even if they demur on having it themselves!

What do such folks do when their fellow diners order oysters on the
half-shell as an appetizer? Do they go all green, or just look the
other way if it bothers them?