January 27, 2014: The Sushi

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I ate sushi for the first time, but...this...wasn't it. I mean, it was pretty low key and totally uneventful! I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it, either. There was no fanfare before, during, or after the eating of the spicy salmon roll. I didn't make a face, I didn't giggle and squirm a little before putting the first piece in my mouth, and - perhaps most importantly and surprisingly - I didn't spit it out.

I found it to be a little bland and really squishy. I'm sure that had to do with the fact that it was salmon and that this particular sushi chef chops up the raw fish rather than using whole pieces. I ate two pieces, actually, just to see what would happen. Would it better the second time? Um. No. Not really. It was still squishy. And bland.

So, Kirsten let me taste a bite of her salmon sashimi (I think that's what it was. I don't have all the sushi vocabulary down yet). It, too, was bland and squishy. I told her it didn't have any flavor whatsoever. I didn't get it. If it doesn't have a flavor, then what is the appeal? I'm going to be honest, I am pretty disappointed in my first sushi experience. I was hoping I would love it because, well, it just seems cool to like sushi. And now this is just one more way in which I am decidedly not cool. *sigh*

In spite of the disappointment, I am still proud of myself. I did this small thing that I have avoided for years because "I don't like fish." I made this decision that I was going to push myself out of my very cozy comfort zone and I did it. Me. It may be stretching it to say something like, "If I can eat sushi, I can do anything!" but it actually might be true for 50-year-old Chris Potter.

And here's the thing. I've decided I'm not done trying sushi. It's kind of like a challenge now. Maybe I will like a different kind of sushi. Maybe sushi with a less-squishy fish will be better. Maybe I will get to be cool one day. Maybe.