I LOVE SUSHI. I just love the taste of the salmon smothered in wasabi and ginger, and the Sushi rice, yummy!!!! I first had real Sushi (by that I mean non-vegetarian Sushi) in 2004. Before then, I had once or twice had a cucumber Maki. The raw Sushi had a certain fascination for me, but I was fine with it being eaten by other people. Just not by me. Then I went and moved abroad, and adventurous as I have always been, things got out of my control. And so I found myself at dinner with Joe and family, and guess what a rare treat they had ordered for us - real Sushi. Okay, its probably not fair to sound like an innocent, I also like red caviar which convinced most of my African friends that I was from another planet. It was not all bad though; they always brought me any caviar they received as gifts, ensuring that I had a steady supply without necessarily spending too much money on my bizarre taste. Its probably a good thing that I do not live in America, because I also love Pate, and I just read a few weeks ago that restaurants all over the US were banning the product due to cruelty to ducks by those barbarian French people (oh puhleez, I bet its only because the French do not support Bush's war in Iraq). So, anyway, back to my gist, since we were on a visit, I decided not to complain too much and just eat as little as I could get away with (that comes from the ethics of not wasting food which my darling mama drilled into me mercilessly). I started off with the cucumber and avocado Sushi, delicious. Then I decided to be more adventurous and so I took tentative bites of the Salmon Sushi, and, surprise, surprise, I liked the taste. Then I tried the shrimp Sushi and found it not bad at all. The caviar Sushi was also very nice. Surprised that it tasted so nice, and feeling smug with myself for having tried at all, I thought that was the end of my Sushi adventure. Na so Sushi hunger come grip me at the beginning of this year o. I vaguely recollect it being as a result of reading Marian Keyes Sushi for beginners. All of a sudden, that Friday evening after work, I dragged CK. to the local Sushi bar. It was so nice that we went again and again, and the rest, as they say, is history. Now I know all the names, Sake Nigiri, Sake Maki, Tempura Maki, and Shashimi etcetera, etcetera. They already know CK and I at the local Sushi bar as it has become one of our favorite places to go on Saturday morning for brunch. The only funny part of this whole issue is that the only Nigiri Sushi I enjoy is the Sake Nigiri(which is Salmon topping atop vinegary rice). I have tried other types, but they just don't taste as good. This obsession is so bad that no week is complete without my eating Sushi at least once. I even had a Sushi dinner for my dearie and I, and I am proud to say my Sushi didn't taste half bad- and at a fraction of the cost. I'll let you into a secret though - these types of obsessions come and go with me quite often. I have been affected with Plov mania, Lamb Shahi Korma mania (it was so bad that I borrowed cookbooks and tried unsuccessfully to recreate the taste), Tarte Flambé mania, Akara mania, Pelmeni mania, Puff puff mania, Russian Pancake mania, Doner Kebab mania, Pate mania, to name a few, over the last few years. Even listing them all has exhausted me, whew! What a good thing it is that there is so much more food to discover out there. My Sushi mania has been the most expensive of my food related manias though. I can't wait until my body decides it has gotten enough, so I can move on to a cheaper mania, like... Gari mania! Oh, I forgot, I'm in Europe and Gari is almost as expensive as Sushi here. Oh well, maybe I’ll be lucky and crave bread next.
Seriously though, I do not know why I am prone to manias. Take my book manias for instance, I have almost every Agatha Christie book published, and have read/bought practically every Anthony Trollope book I could lay my hands on. Okay so, I should not compare these two writers, yet, that exactly illustrates the illogical nature of my manias. Once it catches me, it is like a fever attack and it takes a while before I can act rationally.
The only thing I have found is that every single one of my fixations has enriched my life in ways I could never have imagined.
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