Restaurants Recipes Tools PANTRY STOCKER MEASUREMENT CONVERTER FOOD & WINE SUBSTITUTES GLOSSARIES   Where to eat? Select City/Town Addo Alberton Amanzimtoti Atlantis Barberton Barrydale Bathurst Bedfordview Bela-Bela Belfast Bellville Benoni Bergville Bethlehem Bloemfontein Boesmansriviermond Boksburg Bothas Hill Brakpan Brandvlei Bredasdorp Brits Bronkhorstspruit Bryanston Caledon Calitzdorp Calvinia Cape Town Centurion Ceres Chatsworth Citrusdal Clanwilliam Claremont Clarens Colesberg Darling Derdepark Desainagar Dullstroom Durban Durban North Durbanville East London Edenvale Elandsfontein Emmarentia Equestria Estcourt Fish Hoek Florida Four Ways Franschhoek Gans Bay Garsfontein Gauteng George George East Germiston Goodwood Gordon's Bay Graaff-Reinet Graafwater Grabouw Grahamstown Graskop Great Brak River Greyton Halfway House Harrismith Hartbeespoort Hazyview Hekpoort Hermanus Hillcrest Himeville Hoedspruit Howick Humansdorp Hurlingham Manor Idasvallei Inanda Isando Jeffreys Bay Johannesburg Kakamas Keimoes Kempton Park Kenton On Sea Kimberley Kleinmond Klerksdorp Kloof Knysna Kraaifontein Krugersdorp Kuils River Ladybrand Lambert's Bay Langebaan Lansdowne Lenasia Lichtenburg Limpopo Louis Trichardt Lutzville Lydenburg Lyttelton Mafikeng Malmesbury Malvern Margate Mbazwana Mcgregor Menlo Park Middelburg Midlands Midrand Milnerton Montagu Mooi River Moorreesburg Morningside Mossel Bay Mpumalanga Mtubatuba Muizenberg Musina Napier Nelspruit Noordhoek North Riding Orlando Oudtshoorn Paarl Parow Parys Paulshof Phalaborwa Pietermaritzburg Piketberg Pinetown Plettenberg Bay Pofadder Polokwane Port Alfred Port Edward Port Elizabeth Porterville Potchefstroom Pretoria Pretoria East Pretoria North Prince Albert Ramsgate Randburg Randfontein Retreat Richards Bay Riversdale Rivonia Robertson Rondebosch Roodepoort Rustenburg Sabie Saldanha Sandton Sandton City Sasolburg Scottburgh Secunda Sedgefield Shallcross Shelly Beach Simon's Town Smithfield Somerset West Soweto Springbok Springs St Francis Bay Stanger Stellenbosch Storms River Strand Strathavon Sutherland Swellendam Tongaat Tzaneen Uitenhage Umdoni Umhlali Umhlanga Rocks Upington Vanderbijlpark Velddrif Vereeniging Villiersdorp Virginia Vredenburg Vredendal Warmbaths Waterkloof Welkom Wellington Wepener Wesselsbron Western Cape White River Winterton Witbank Witkoppen Witsand Wolseley Worcester What to eat? Select Food Type African American Style Argentinean Asian Austrian Belgian Bistro Brazilian Breakfast British Buffet Cajun / Creole Cal-Med Californian Cape Cape Malay Cape Provencale Cape-Continental Cape-Dutch Caribbean Catering Facilities Chinese Classic Cocktails Coffee Shop Contemporary Continental Country Cuban Deli food European French Fusion Game German Greek Halaal Health Indian Indonesian International Italian Japanese Kurdish Light Meals Malaysian Mauritian Mediterranean Mexican Middle Eastern Morrocan Northern Italian Picnics Pizzas Portuguese Pub Fare Seafood South African South American Spanish Steakhouse Sushi Swiss Thai Traditional Turkish Vegetarian Vietnamese Restaurant name Select a search option above Search from over 13 000 recipes, developed,tried and tested by some of SA's top food writers

Food news

The closet non-sushi eater

Jenna Shevel realises that the obsession with raw fish is here to stay and she'll be 'sushi-shamed' if she doesn't convert soon.

It has recently come to my attention that I am the new social outcast.

Why I ask you? No, I do not smell or have any weird habits and I have been told that I am a rather entertaining dinner guest. It seems the problem is I do not eat sushi, shock of horrors.

Since the sushi craze has swept South Africa, life has become somewhat difficult. In the early days, when people were just getting into sushi, the secret was quite safe with many people still being scared by 'raw fish'. In the last few years anyone who's anyone it seems, is obsessed with the stuff.

For a non-sushi eater it seems that everyone out there is on an eternal search for the best or cheapest sushi. Sushi culture has taken over. It always comes up in conversations, where do you get the best sushi, where is the best special, the debate about high vs. low sodium soy, salmon roses with caviar or sesame seeds or whether Japanese mayonnaise is actually traditional fare?

Sushi Shamed
Now when the typical "lets go for sushi tonight" comes up, I have found myself uttering "sure, that sounds great", forgetting to mention the fact that I do not eat it.

Yes, I was ashamed. What is life coming to when people are being sushi shamed?
Well here it is, it's not that I am scared of raw fish or that I do not like fish. I am big fan of all things ocean-related. Prawns, calamari, mussels, smoked salmon is so delicious. I even eat anchovy paste and tarmasolata, you cannot get anymore fishy than that. I simply do not like the taste of nori and am not an avocado fan at all.

I have tried it and did not enjoy the experience, and believe you me I have tried to like it. I am rather fond of other Japanese delicacies, beef tepanyaki, miso soup, noodles, spring rolls, prawn tempura... all absolutely delicious!

It may seem overboard to feel like a social-outcast because I am not a slave to sushi, but it can make life quite tricky. I cannot ever attend sushi and wine evenings (well I could but just get horribly drunk) or the "girls making their own sushi night", my gastronomic outings are now sushi motivated. I have now become labelled a "difficult eater" (which by other non-sushi related counts I am not at all) and my one dear friend even went as far to call me a philistine, the cheek!

When choosing a restaurant to eat at, I often feel that I am a hindrance as we have to go somewhere that serves other foods besides sushi to the annoyance of some people. I have felt the condescension of the sushi chefs behind the sushi conveyor belt (called a Kaiten) looking at me and wondering what is wrong with this girl, why is she not eating the sushi delicacies.

It seems the sushi obsession is here to stay but so either I just get on the "Kaiten" or stand my ground. Either way this will be my crossed chopsticks to bear.

hilirious! this is so funny!!great piece and keep to your no sushi!!!!!!you go girl! - lisa   sushi lover! jenna,you are classic!i luuuuuuurved this story even though i am sushi obsessed!!please write on more of your experiences, they damn funny!!! - tina   anti sushi comrade! Thank goodness...finally! Someone else who feels my pain. We should go out for dinner sometime!!! - troy   healthy, dont kid yourself! I love how everyone thinks sushi is soooo healthy...well it's not!especially to those of you who drown the stuff in Japanese mayo! Jenna, well done on a great funny article and don't ever feel sushi shamed again!! - dina   classic! this is too damn funny!but true I tell you...I don't eat anything but meat and potatoes and i get shamed all the time!lets start a support goup!!! - trevor   try some high-quality traditional sushi.. it's different If you can, find a place that serves traditional sushi and get some simple high-quality nigiri sushi or sashimi. It sounds like your friends have been taking you to all the wrong places... and showing you California-style sushi. My tips: 1. It's not fishy if it's fresh. Not fishy like anchovies and fishpaste. At most, it should smell like a fresh sea breeze. 2. Fashion sandwiches, salmon roses, rainbow rolls, dragon rolls, spicy tuna rolls, avo sushi etc are not traditional sushi, and if you want high quality Japanese food you should stay away from the places that specialise in these. 3. Don't look for the cheapest, and don't go for the specials.. what do you think they are serving at that Sunday night, "Eat all you like" special if it's not the fish they want to get rid of before the restock on Monday? 4. Find a place where the sushi chef owns the restaurant or has a stake in it. Too often a couple of Japanese youngsters are flown over to fill up the sushi conveyor belt. 5. Stay away from the conveyor belt.. it's usually more expensive than ordering exactly what you want, and it's often not as fresh. 6. Find a place where the chef fetches his own fish, and where he will put seasonal local fish on the menu. It's usually the freshest and tastiest fish you will get, and makes a change from the eternal procession of salmon and tuna that most of Cape Town regards as the only fish worth eating. Eating boring fast-food sushi drowned in wasabi, soya and ginger is nothing to be proud of.. look for something authentic and be surprised at the difference.. - Tim   High Quality Traditional Sushi Restaurants? Tim, could you perhaps mention a few of the restaurants that you frequent that serve high quality traditional sushi, I love sushi but generally opt for Cape Town Fish Market's menu. - Fathima   no-Sushi I love seafood but I refuse to eat Sushi. With all the junk being dumped in the sea I will rather have mine cooked. - Johan   THE BEST SUSHI By far the best sushi I have tried lies in the heart South Africa in Pretoria. The John Dory's in the North pretoria - wonderpark shopping centre, is "the best". From a variety of platters to the best salmon around. These are the words of a non fish fan who changes to a sushi lover after a few servings. - FRANS TEFFO   How does one How does one eat sushi ? - Jack   Sushi....eeeeew A lot of my friends and work collegues eat sushi for the sake of trying to fit in. When prompted, most of them say that they would prefer something much more tastier but since the worlds gone sushi crazy, it is the cool thing to eat. I have no problem ordering a steak or grilled prawns when going for sushi with friends. Plus, eating with chopsticks doesn't gel with me. The world has progressed tremedously since the dark ages and yet we are still expected to eat our food with wooden sticks. You must be joking! - gaby   Sushi Is the greatest con of the 21st century to date. It's crap - period. - Brandon   Can't beat the craving Nice Article, and very representative of the way a lot of people feel. A friend and I decided to try Sushi one night a good few years ago to see what it would be like. It wasn't "bad", but then within a month or 2 I got the craving of that taste. So I went and tried it again, eating the "california styles" which are really the beginners sushi. I now eat pretty much any kind of sushi (thats when it is available). The problem is, when you get a craving your that taste, there is nothing else in the world that will take it away. Except Sushi itself. - Mickey   sushi All sushi is not raw!!!!! From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sushi as an English word has come to refer to a complete dish with rice and toppings; this is the sense used in this article. The original term Japanese: sushi (-zushi in some compounds such as makizushi), written in kanji, means snack and refers to the rice, but not fish or other toppings. Outside of Japan, sushi is sometimes misunderstood to mean the raw fish by itself, or even any fresh raw-seafood dishes. In Japan, however, sliced raw fish alone is called sashimi and is distinct from sushi. There are various types of sushi: sushi served rolled inside nori (dried and pressed layer sheets of seaweed or alga) called makizushi or rolls; sushi made with toppings laid with hand-formed clumps of rice called nigirizushi toppings stuffed into a small pouch of fried tofu called inarizushi; and toppings served scattered over a bowl of sushi rice called chirashi-zushi . - Gzq   GZD, daftie We can all source wiki - and cut and paste buddy. If you've got something original then 'paste' that. Have you ever had sashimi, it definitely raw fish, that's the way it's suppose to be... raw - Sally   RE Veggie Sushi You are aware that you can get veggie sushi, believe it or not and it is great !!!!! I love the rice and seaweed with raw veggies and spices in the middle. :-) - Lejane   sushi smushi hehehe this article is worldclass!!!You go Jenna!!! keep up the good work, we wanna see more of your articles, they are extremely entertaining!!! - Harriet   Some people just dont get it. I like how your story of how you don't like sushi has spawned off sub conversations about where the best places to eat sushi are and the definitions of sushi and whatnot. The fact is, you don't like it and that's fine. I don't get how some people can't leave it at that. I like sushi but I'm not going to force you to eat it if you don't like it. Great article by the way! - Nicholas   I agree with Brandon It almost beats bottled water in the conning department.... - Wim   Trots.. Jenna i think the real reason comes down to the trots.. I know many a lad who've tried sushi but it just doesn't go down well, loved the article none the less, and as for that Gzq comment, no1 cares buddy - Hermanus Koppenafal   great! this is a great article!ifi ate sushi i would have choked on a piece of raw salmon laughing!jenna,you have a great style!MORE PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!! - tamara   trots? to the comment about trots, are you implying that sushi gives you a bad stomach!? Hermanus you are probably eating off sushi!that aside, Jenna,great article. An idea,why don't you write on all your favourite foods, would like to see that. - mike   Shunning sushi! I have just come back from a restaurant I will not name where I had the worst sushi of my life! I will be joining Jenna and am not eatin the stuff ever again! She obviously knows what she is talkin about - ashley   100% agreed I too tried sushi and at first it was ok, i guess it was the adventure of new things. but after 7 more tries, at the TOP places around, I finally decided to be honest with myself and stop trying to impress my larney friends and just admit that i HATE the stuff!! and that should be ok. but who would know that it was NOT OK to be different? big up to you jenna for putting it out there! - helen   Great sushi Jenna, great article. When you are invited to go for sushi again, suggest Willoughby & Co, great environment, great sushi, great sushi chefs. They also have a Japanese bar which is part of the set-up so you won't feel out by not eating sushi. Willoughby's is the only place we eat sushi & now enjoy their new added Japanese bar as well, highly highly recommended. - Joy   Great Article Great article Jenna. So sorry that you really don't like sushi. I crave it most of the time. I love the fact that you are such an individual so go girl go. - Linda H   different strokes for different folks Sushi has hit South Africa with a bang- i LOVE the stuff- there is nothing like a salmon rose sliding down your throat Jenna tell your friends not to make you a social outcast- different strokes for different folks!! For great sushi- i highly reccommend Minatos and Little Japan- absolutely the best sushi i have tasted. Brilliant article Shevel-i look forward to reading more of your work!! - Michelle   yummy I love sushi but it's so refreshing to read other people's food quibbles! Jenna,i read your former article and i like your style! Please write more! - vicky   long live steak! I am in total agreement, sushi is bird food. I am a firm steak lover and i will never be shamed into liking sushi! jenna,I bet anything you like red meat! - daniel       Name Email Subject Comment