Sushi in the spotlight

 ROME -- Whoever said wine and Japanese food don’t go together should try a new initiative of sushi aperitifs with Prosecco at Rokko Restaurant in Passeggiata di Ripetta, 15 in Rome. You’ll be delighted to find out what a perfect combination it can be.

 Hot towels and green tea are served. Are you ready to stuff yourself silly with a flow of culinary delights, to dig into plates of raw ingredients accompanied by miso soup, freshly grated wasabi and pickled ginger? Don’t you love it when the fatty toro – the highly prized tuna belly – gives you that ‘melt in the mouth’ sensation you have been craving?

  Japanese food is probably the sexiest in the world because presentation plays such a crucial role. From the shape of the dishes to the colour of the smallest garnish, the Japanese consider it important to produce sushi that is a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. Even if detractors say that presentation is used to disguise the blood-lust and brutal murder of animals that goes on behind the scenes, life is good for sushi lovers sitting in a restaurant about to enjoy their favourite dish.

  However, there’s one question they should ask themselves -- is what I’m going to eat authentic Japanese produce?

  According to an informal survey, there are approximately 150 Japanese restaurants in Milan, of which 120 are run by Chinese, 20 by Italians and only ten by Japanese. Chances are that there is a similar scenario in Rome. This implies that most Romans who think they have eaten sushi have not tasted anything even remotely like the real thing. In a dish as simple and austere as sushi – where anything less than perfect is discarded – every step counts. It is also vital that every component, from the vegetables to the rice, pickled ginger and vinegar, be of the highest quality. And the freshness of the raw fish is paramount.

  But contamination is taking place on a global scale. As a result, in 2008 the Organization to Promote Japanese Restaurants Abroad (JRO) introduced a task force to unveil inadequate Japanese restaurants and foster a proper dissemination of Japan’s food culture. Sushi is now available even in supermarkets and shopping malls. This is not to say that Chinese food is bad, quite the contrary. But Chinese and Japanese cooking traditions are very different, and these differences should be pointed out. Would you gladly eat a plate of spaghetti all’amatriciana served in a German restaurant?

  Besides Rokko, which remains our favourite truly Japanese restaurant, I would like to mention Hamasei in Via della Mercede 35/36, a historical meeting place for sushi lovers in Rome.

  A list of JRO certificated restaurants, Chinese-run Japanese restaurants plus so-called "fusion food" restaurants (mixing all sorts of Far Eastern cuisines) is available on www.youkosoitalia.net. The website is frequently updated by sushi lovers, who post their own comments and generously provide useful tips. You can learn, for instance, that original Japanese restaurants almost never bear the name of cities, neighbourhoods or greeting forms; or that they can be easily recognised because their windows usually display cloned wax or plastic versions of dishes listed on the menu.

 There is no mention of table manners in the website. So what about those sushi bores who just can’t wait to tell you that to leave granules of rice floating in your dipping sauce is the height of bad taste and brutishness? Who impart snobbish information to emphasise your lack of technique at every opportunity, and make you feel small by pointing out that the pickled ginger should be used as an inter-course palate cleanser, not as condiment? Well, just don’t let yourself be intimidated. What’s all the fuss about? Keep eating your crudités and fried tempura specialties with gusto, and don’t dwell too much on etiquette. After all, samurai warriors never had this problem.

  Apart from its textures, flavours and gorgeous visuals, Japanese food should be recommended for the healthiness of its ingredients. Tofu, seaweeds and protein-rich soy sauce make you live longer, that’s a fact; sceptics need only consider the longevity of Japanese people, especially in the Okinawa area. Or is it the sake, a traditional Japanese liquor distilled from rice, that does the trick? Are its hidden powers more effective than Italian wine? The variety of rice is much less significant in sake production than the grape variety is in wine production, and vintages are not so crucial. Quality really depends on how the rice is polished.

  Be that as it may, debutants who are unaware that sake can be drunk warm or cool are kindly invited to take the following, last piece of advice: in recent times in Japan the pendulum of fashion has swung firmly towards cool sake. 

ROKKO:
Lunch from 12:00 to 14:30
Sushi aperitif at 18:30
Dinner from 19:00 to 22:30
Sunday closed
Telephone: 06 3223414
Email: info@ristoranterokko.com

 HAMASEI:
Lunch from 12:00 to 15:00 (kitchen closes at 14:30)
Dinner from 19:15 to 23:00 (kitchen closes at 22:45)
Monday closed
Telephone: 06 6792134
No email bookings