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Monday, 25th January 2016
In General Japan News,
Japanese government to train overseas chefs in sushi skills
The best place in the world to get sushi is undoubtedly Japan, but the country’s government is concerned that the food is getting a bad reputation abroad due to not being prepared properly.
In a bid to counter the soggy and flavourless dishes being served up as sushi in some places overseas, authorities in Japan are launching a sushi certification system.
The purpose of the new scheme is to guarantee quality for diners eating sushi anywhere in the world, which means inviting chefs to Japan to receive training.
Once they have undergone the programme, they will return to the country where they work with a gold, silver or bronze certification.
As this will be issued by the Japanese government, it is expected to hold some weight with employers and diners keen to have the most qualified chefs prepare sushi for them.
Japan takes its food and the reputation of its cuisine very seriously, as is evidenced by the fact it has the highest concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants anywhere in the world.
The country’s traditional cuisine, which encompasses everything from sushi to kaiseki banquets, is known as washoku.
So important an element of Japanese society, it was granted Intangible Cultural Heritage status by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2013.
The practices associated with washoku are so specialised there is even a specific angle the chef’s hand should be held at when moulding rice to create sushi.
Its principles are all designed to create the best harmony and balance throughout dishes, whether that be in flavours, colours or the overall presentation.
All this means that those chefs from overseas who end up undertaking the newly introduced certification programme for sushi will likely find excruciating attention to detail upheld.