The sushi - it is known-it is not just Japanese food, now cleared through customs and appreciated all over the world. Sushi is a philosophy of perfection, elegance, creativity and harmonious discipline that comes from afar across the centuries.
Anyone who wants to immerse themselves in a unique atmosphere and also feed on beauty will have to choose, at least once in their life, to taste it.
But for those who want to learn how to making sushi, the first step is to get to know him, Jiro Ono, the absolute master of sushi in the world.
At 91 years old, he still prepares at his historic restaurant in Tokyo, the Sukiyabashi Jirō, his dishes appreciated by the greatest international chefs, with the same passion and precision as when he was 9, the age when he began to approach this true art form.
The Art of Jiro Ono
Three Michelin stars and an unflagging dedication to his work, which he transfers every day to his children, heirs now of the sushi empire, with a meticulousness and spirit of relentless, precise and untiring research.
A way of life, that of Jiro Ono, which literally fascinated the American director Devid Gelb, so much so that in 2011 it prompted him to make a documentary focusing on the Japanese master's life entitled "Jiro and the Art of Sushi."
Art and perfection, art that is itself perfection, that almost "oxymoronically" possesses precise rules, art that is image, fortitude, visual power and research.
Jiro's children today are his most attentive pupils, heirs not only to a real culinary dynasty, but more importantly of an approach to life made up of simplicity, care and love for one's work. In a scene in the film dedicated to him, Jiro says. "You have to fall in love with your work.".
Jiro Ono, a sushi shokunin
Anyone who wants to learn how to make sushi cannot help but take a cue from him: the shokunin, an almost untranslatable Japanese term that gives a sense of the authorship of his craft. Yes, because we can say that Jiro is a true sushi artisan and in that word "shokunin" is not only contained the manual valence of what this great master with impeccable culinary technique does every day, there is also a social valence. That valence, that is, that involves-according to the fascinating Japanese culture-the obligation and commitment to work to the best of one's ability for the general welfare of people.
That of Jiro Ono is a real path to perfection, attainable through practice, experimentation, technique and continuous improvement. To learn to make sushi as he does these aspects are fundamental, and it is essential to have this striving for perfection or-as Jiro himself calls it-the ascent, the summit of which is never known.
A dignity and an honor for this man who continues to teach his children these values, with the same purity of spirit as always, with an astonishing humility, which Jiro has never lost, even though he has ascended to the Olympus of sushi chef of the world, while having prepared his dishes for such important names as Barack Obama for example.
Quite a challenge to reach the skill and experience of Jiro Ono. Yet today you can begin to learn sushi technique and tools thanks in part to the Japanese cooking class by Italian Food Academy.
