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<\/a><\/p>\nSushi is \u2018vinegared\u2019 rice topped with other ingredients \u2013 fish (ryby<\/strong>), seafood (owoce morza<\/strong>) or vegetables (warzywa<\/strong>) being the most common, but as in America, home to the California roll, here in Poland sushi has been adapted to cater to some more local tastes. Smoked mackerel (w\u0119dzona\u00a0makrela<\/strong>)\u00a0sushi is a popular choice, eel (w\u0119gorz<\/strong>) with gherkin (korniszon<\/strong>) packs a tangy if utterly inauthentic punch, and rice stained \u2018Barbie purple with beetroot juice\u2019 is a common sight. Anathema in Japan, but popular with most western sushi eaters, the calorific Philadelphia or mayonnaise rolls with deep fried battered prawns (krewetki<\/strong>) or fish (ryba<\/strong>) and extra avocado(awokado<\/strong>) are big sellers.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a long way from sushi\u2019s origins back in 17th century Japan, when Hahaya Yohei created a delicious roadside finger food by marinating fish in vinegar and selling it in strips or on a damp cushion of rice. The acid breaks down the fats in the fish, fermenting it slightly and creating one of the five basic tastes identified by Japanese cooking, \u2018umami\u2019, defined as a taste sensation that is meaty or savory.<\/p>\n \u2018Umami\u2019 sounds terribly Eastern and exotic, but in fact it has always been a part of Polish cooking, more so than in other European cuisines. \u017burek, a popular broth, gets its umami taste from the fermented rye flour, and bigos, Poland\u2019s national dish of hearty meat stew, gets it from the fermented cabbage, the naturally occurring nucleotides in the mushrooms and the cured sausage \u2013 curing increases the glutamate content. The precise minimalist aesthetic of sushi might be a million miles away from this warming hearty food, but the basic meaty-sour taste is not.<\/p>\n And Poland has always appreciated fish dishes, again with an emphasis on curing, brining and smoking \u2013 all increasing the umami taste. Strips of herring (\u015bled\u017a<\/strong>) or sprat (szprot<\/strong>) fillets lightly brined with allspice, mustard seed and bay has the slippery-fresh rawness of sushi, albeit distinctly Polishflavoured, and it\u2019s been a traditional part of Polish cooking for centuries, making Poland ripe for a sushi invasion.<\/p>\n For all its popularity, and despite normalising \u2018make your own\u2019 sushi classes, sushi just isn\u2019t normal everyday food. It has a taste of the exotic, the rarefied and the precious about it. It is food with presence, food that has cache. It\u2019s thrilling to watch highly-trained Japanese chefs and their Polish disciples cleaver-ing up fish and creating our dinner before our very eyes. It\u2019s gratifyingly novel and space age to select little dishes from a moving conveyor belt. It\u2019s glamorous to click lacquered chop sticks (pa\u0142eczki do jedzenia<\/strong>) against porcelain bowls, spectacular to have food brought to the table on a giant wooden junk. It\u2019s rewarding to master the art of using delicate chopsticks with grace (wdzi\u0119k<\/strong>) and panache (ostentacja<\/strong>). The joy of sushi isn\u2019t simply the food; it\u2019s the style as well. And as a modern and cosmopolitan city (kosmopolityczne miasto<\/strong>), Warsaw is the perfect place to eat sushi in – and with – style.<\/p>\n There are some great sushi restaurants not only in Warsaw, but other (mostly big) Polish cities. It is not quite exactly the same sushi as the one I’m used to in Maine. But overall great new experience!<\/p>\n I would recommend Sakana<\/strong> restaurant in Warsaw (Moliera 4\/6 St) and So-An<\/strong> (Koszykowa 54 St).<\/p>\n Do nast<\/strong>\u0119pnego razu… <\/strong>(Till next time…)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sushi is popular in Poland\u2019s urban centers. Seriously popular. An informal study of Warsaw magazines reveals that about 12% of all the city\u2019s restaurants sell it \u2013 and even then you probably want to book a table on a Friday night to make sure you get some. It seems that to Varsovians (Warszawiacy), sushi says…<\/p>\n