How Sushi Went Global

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

After today's Social Studies class, I was just so inspired. I just had to go and search for more articles, and this time it's on the cultural aspect of globalization, seeing as I am the cultural expert for this group.

http://www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/cultural/2001/1201sushi.htm

This article tracks the progress of sushi, as it went from something that westerners turned up their noses at because it was raw fish, to becoming somewhat of a health food in Europe and America. This shows that cultural globalization is not one-sided at all, and that Asia does influence other countries very much too.

"And so, from an exotic, almost unpalatable ethnic specialty, then to haute cuisine of the most rarefied sort, sushi has become not just cool, but popular. The painted window of a Cambridge, Massachusetts, coffee shop advertises 'espresso, cappuccino, carrot juice, lasagna, and sushi.' Mashed potatoes with wasabi (horseradish), sushi-ginger relish, and seared sashimi-grade tuna steaks show Japan's growing cultural influence on upscale nouvelle cuisine throughout North America, Europe, and Latin America. Sushi has even become the stuff of fashion, from 'sushi' lip gloss, colored the deep red of raw tuna, to 'wasabi' nail polish, a soft avocado green. "

Also, the article talks about how sushi has become a symbol for all things Japanese in the western world. Yet, sushi remains authentic to the Japanese themselves.

"Just because sushi is available, in some form or another, in exclusive Fifth Avenue restaurants, in baseball stadiums in Los Angeles, at airport snack carts in Amsterdam, at an apartment in Madrid (delivered by motorcycle), or in Buenos Aires, Tel Aviv, or Moscow, doesn't mean that sushi has lost its status as Japanese cultural property. Globalization doesn't necessarily homogenize cultural differences nor erase the salience of cultural labels. Quite the contrary, it grows the franchise. In the global economy of consumption, the brand equity of sushi as Japanese cultural property adds to the cachet of both the country and the cuisine. "

An interesting article about sushi, I felt.


Your cultural expert,
Wendy.
Posted by Wendy! at 10:57 pm
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