On last Friday’s Game of Books podcast, we talked with Carla Norton. She not only lived in Japan for a while, her current book in progress is at least partly set in Japan. I say partly because I realize spy novels tend to cover a lot of ground … and it isn’t out yet so I’ll have to wait to read it to know for sure.
Regardless, when we asked Carla our favorite food-related question (Which of your characters would you have a meal with and what would it be?), she said she’d share sushi and sake with the spy in the new novel. I love sushi and sake! But being from south Florida, I didn’t grow up knowing much about either of those. And even now I don’t make sushi myself, or sake for that matter. However, should you be inclined to try, I found this pretty comprehensive list of the top sushi making kits on a beautiful site called Food Shark Marfa. I have no idea what a marfa is, but the food shark marfa knows its stuff.
Anyway, to clarify, I did have homemade sushi for my first taste. In my twenties I would frequent the docks across from my apartment to get my fresh fish right from the boat. One day a fisherman suggested I eat the tuna raw that he was selling that day, since it was so fresh and caught from deep waters. “Makes good sushi,” he said. I had no idea if that was smart (no google back then), but I tried it with some soy sauce and yum! I was as hooked as that tuna was, thankful that neither one of us was cooked.
Here are the links to Game of Books podcast Corks and Conversation #9: Carla Norton:
1 Comment
I remember you taking me to meet the boats at the docks coming in for the fresh fish. I had no idea we weren’t going to cook it! It took some encouragement from you for me to venture into raw fish. However, whatever you did to it made it yummy! Good times;)