evening post sushi

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Food feature: Make your own sushi with Your

Sushi

Wednesday 22nd April 2009

Mark Taylor meets the man behind an innovative company which is

demystifying the art of making your own sushi

The first surprise about sushi expert Emmanuel Letellier is that he is from

France. I was expecting him to be a small Japanese man in his fifties, not a tall,

smartly dressed Frenchman.

But then sushi is one of those things that comes will all sorts of preconceptions

and, as Emmanuel is quick to tell me, he is trying to demystify this popular form

of cuisine.

Through his Bristol-based company Your Sushi – not to be confused with the

national chain of sushi restaurants with a not too dissimilar name – Emmanuel

runs sushi courses, teaching people how to create this simple, healthy food from

the comfort of their own homes.

The lessons are informal and can be held as part of a children’s party, ateam-building corporate event or even at a bar mitzvah.

All the chefs who work for Your Sushi are either Japanese-trained chefs or

chefs who love and have a passion about sushi.

The main aim is to get across the message that sushi is easy and fun to do and,

most importantly, it’s a lot more than simply raw fish.

“In Europe, there is a big misconception about sushi,” says Emmanuel. “Peopleautomatically say ‘yuk, raw fish’, but it’s just not true. European sushi is

essentially vinegared rice with another ingredient which is often vegetarian. One

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of my favourites is blue cheese and fig, for example.

“What you get in most sushi restaurants in this country is ‘European’ sushi like

Californian rolls which have no raw fish. They are very easy to make once you

get the rice right.

“In the lessons, we demystify it. We show them how to cook the rice, how to

make a wide variety of rolls.

“Sushi is a way of cooking, not a set of dishes.”

Making sushi has always been one of the more mysterious culinary arts. In

Japan, sushi chefs often train for seven years and the first three years of that

training is spent learning how to cook the rice.

Born into a family of restaurateurs in La Rochelle, Emmanuel learnt about sushi

from a Japanese chef who was working in one of his family’s restaurants in

France.

“I was brought up in kitchens from a child and was always surrounded by chefs.

One of the restaurants was Japanese, so I spent a lot of time with an

experienced sushi chef.

“Japanese chefs are very humble and they do not usually share information, but

we built up a good relationship and he taught me a lot of his skills which is where

my interest started.”

Emmanuel moved to Bristol 10 years ago on a gap year and ended up studying

at UWE. He worked in information systems for a few years but soon got bored

of office life and decided to return to his foodie roots.

“I had always taught people how to make their own sushi on the side so in 2007 I

decided I should be doing it for a living and it’s been going very well.

“I used to travel everywhere to hold the lessons, but now I cover the South and

Manchester and I have other trained people covering other cities.”

Each class runs for just under three hours and covers all areas of sushi making.

All products are sourced from reputable local fishmongers and only the best

ingredients are used for each lesson.

The lesson demonstrates the art of sushi rice, how to handle raw fish, how to

make toppings for sushi, how to prepare the vegetables and how to make a

variety of sushi including nigiri, hoso maki, futo maki and California rolls.

The lessons are very hands-on and all participants go home with a bento box, a

sushi-making guide and all the sushi they made during the class.

The sessions are tailored to groups of all sizes, including hen parties.


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Many people buy Your Sushi gift vouchers for friends and family to use and

these have proved especially popular.

“We get a lot of husbands who were given the gift vouchers at Christmas and

they often turn up a little unsure but leave with a smile on their faces,” laughsEmmanuel, who wants the lessons to be as fun as they are informative.

“We get a wide range of people, including couples who think it’s a cool thing to

do on a Saturday afternoon to children with their parents.

“Last time, we had two 80-year-old grandfathers making sushi and they were

really into it. It was brilliant.”

The next Your Sushi cookery class takes place at the Mercure BrigstowHotel, Welsh Back, on May 16. The three-hour lesson costs £60 per

person which includes a bento box of miso soup, chopsticks, sushi-

making kit and all the sushi you make on the day. For more information,

call Emmanuel on 0117 974 7299 or go to www.YourSushi.co.uk

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