On March 13, Mr. Ichiro Fujii, the Exective Chef of Ambassador of Japanese held a cooking workshop at La Cité Collégiale in Ottawa. About 10 students from the Culinary Arts Course and chef-instructors participated in this class. The Ambassador’s wife, Mrs. Monji also attended and answered the students’ questions.

Prior to the demonstration, an Embassy official gave a short presentation on Washoku (Japanese cuisine).

Chef Fujii cooked miso-soup first, while explaining how to prepare dashi (Japanese stock), which forms the base of Washoku. After that, he explained how to make makizushi and nigirizushi. Then the students tried the techniques for themselves.

Although sushi is well known in Canada now, not many students had experienced making sushi by themselves before. They enjoyed following Chef Fujii’s practical advice on how to measure the right amount of sushi rice, press the rice, and prepare fillings.

It is hoped that the taste of Washoku, which gets the best out of ingredients through simple methods, will be enjoyed more in Canada thanks to the efforts of the future professional Canadian chefs.