Did you know that?
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Sushi originated from Japan
Kanjis or ideograms that constitute the word Japan means “where the sun comes from” and that is why we sometimes call Japan the “Land of the rising sun”.
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History of sushi
Some 500 years before our time, they would alternate layers of raw fish and rice in closed jars and would leave to ferment for up to a year. At the time, they would only eat the pieces of fish and would discard the rice!
It is only in the 1640’s that they had the idea to add vinegar to the rice, which would speed up the fermentation process. With time, people developed a taste for this combination of fish and vinegar-flavored rice. It is from this combination that emerged the sushi as we know it today.
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But where do the chopsticks come from?
It is hard to say exactly when they were invented: the first occurrence of chopsticks in literature was in the text “Han Feizi” from philosopher Han Fei (280 to 233 years before our time).
Myth or reality?
Many myths surround the arrival of chopsticks as main utensils in Asia: Among other things, we pretend that a Chinese Emperor who was threatened to be killed forbade the use of metal utensils because they could potentially be used as weapons. This is when the chopsticks were most likely invented!