Sushi: A Fusion Cuisine That Illustrates Globalization

Japanese chefs, Norwegian engineers, Canadian fishermen and quirky American consumers combined over the past four decades to develop a new cuisine, one that shows how taste can be as powerful an agent of globalization as trade ministers and CEOs. Sasha Issenberg’s new book, “The Sushi Economy,” explores the history of sushi – the bite-sized combination of sticky rice and raw fish that became a popular delicacy, thanks to developments in technology and enterprising businesspeople. In the early 1970s, North America was running a trade deficit with Japan, and entrepreneurs searching for a Western import to fill empty transport containers seized upon surplus, high-quality seafood produced by Canada, which was flown back to Japanese markets with the aid of newly-developed refrigerator technology. Today, sushi bars and stands are pervasive worldwide, and specialty rolls designed with regional flavors have brought Tex-Mex to Tokyo. The world travels of sushi demonstrate how individual taste buds and free markets, not corporations and governments, spread such a cultural icon throughout the world. – YaleGlobal