As i drive uphill along the curvy roads to Fürigen, I'm wondering how my Sushi-Skills will turn out. Apart from eating Sushi at a few Japanese restaurants in US and Paris, i really didn't have too much experience with it. Somehow Sushi hasn't yet ended up being on my top-10 list of food cravings... perhaps being a vegetarian has something to do with it. Rice and veggies is something i do pretty often, so this bland version doesn't attract me. Not just yet. But what's attracted me is watching Sushi experts deftly roll the Sushi with their finger tips -- creating masterpieces of color surrounded by white. I wonder, how hard can it be? Cook some rice, grab some nori, julienne some veggies and avocados, roll it all together, and voila! I’ll have that lovely and delectable taste of home, right?The twinkling lights along the lake divert my thoughts from Sushi.

Silvana and I arrive at Karin's home almost the same time. And soon, the three of us are in Karin's kitchen ready to delve into the world of Sushi.

Silvana and Karin explain the basics to me: Place a Nori on the Bamboo mat, spread rice, chop veggies, Tofu and avocado and roll it together -- Perfect! just as i had imagined it to be... Sounds like a piece of cake compared to the tedious Roti rolling act. WRONG!!!! The rice.. I soon find out why it's called sticky rice -- it wants to stick to my fingers instead of Nori! Silvana shows me the wet hands trick and after that it starts to come together quickly. Soon i have the bottom three-quarters of nori sheet covered with thin layer of rice, leaving the top quarter of the nori sheet empty. I line up Tofu, omelette, veggies and avocado on the bottom third of the nori sheet.

Now comes the tricky part.. Rolling. I figure that if I put my fingertips on top of sushi ingredients to hold them in place while keeping both thumbs on the back of the bamboo rolling mat closest to me, it's pretty easy. I keep pushing the mat forward until the mat is completely around the sushi roll and the top and bottom edges of the nori meet. 

Looking at Silvana, i learn that i can continue to gently roll the sushi mat in a circle around the ingredients to shape the sushi into a nice long, round roll. I set my first sushi roll aside to help the rice and ingredients stick and gel in shape and start on my second one. The Rolls look pretty neat -- not perfect, but hey.. not bad for a first attempt  

After the "Wrap and Roll", it's time to cut -- Drum rolls please!!! My Sushi rolls look too good to be the results of Freshman efforts. Not as colourful as Karin & Silvana's due to the missing fish. Perhaps i could've used a carrot for a splash of color -- something to remember for next time!!

But now.. we can't wait to dig in. The table is set, with flowers, candles, wine and our Sushi is waiting to be picked up with Chopsticks, gently rolled into Soysauce before being placed on the tongue to savour..

Vielen Dank Karin for a new food experience!!