Rath, Eric C.2020-02-252020-02-252020-02-03Some Tasting Notes on Year-Old Sushi: Funazushi, Japan's Most Ancient and Potentially Its Most Up-to-Date Sushi Eric C. Rath Gastronomica: The Journal of Critical Food Studies, Vol. 20 No. 1, Spring 2020; (pp. 34-41) DOI: 10.1525/gfc.2020.20.1.34https://hdl.handle.net/1808/30009Abstract: Funazushi, a fermented food made with crucian carp, is often described as Japan’s most ancient form of sushi. This article evaluates these historical claims and offers some tasting notes, exploring traditional versions of the dish and new interpretations that offer a possible future for sushi. I could never write a global history of sushi without having eaten what has been called the most “ancient form” of sushi, the funazushi found in Shiga Prefecture (Hosking 1996: 43). So on a recent trip to Japan I set aside two days to try to eat as much funazushi as possible. This proved to be challenging for many reasons, not the least of which was the taste of funazushi, which many people find disagreeable. What I learned from the experience was less about sushi’s past than a possibility for sushi’s future© 2020 by the Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press's Reprints and Permissions web page, https://www.ucpress.edu/journals/reprints-permissions.Article10.1525/gfc.2020.20.1.34openAccess