June 18: National Sushi Day and National Cherry Tart Day

National Sushi Day

At first, I thought it was ironic that America has a lot of "national" food celebrations of food that is distinctly not an American tradition.  But then I realized it's just a reflection of our multi-cultural nation and the roots of our nation.  As I read recently, the history of a nation is in the cuisine of the nation.

Anyhow, so today's National Sushi Day! I'm a huge fan of sushi so I wanted to celebrate today's food observance.  To celebrate, I checked out a sushi house that a coworker recommended.  It was okay - nothing spectacular, but nothing bad either.  I suppose if I really wanted to celebrate, I would've made my own.  I've done so in the past before- sometimes I roll it with a mat and plastic wrap, sometimes I cheat and use a sushi mold, and sometimes I get really lazy and make temaki (handrolls), eating them as I make them.

If you'd like to make your own sushi, go for it.  There are plenty of tutorials (I'll let you Google on your own) out there and you can really be as creative as you want with your sushi.  When I make it on my own, cucumber tends to be the most common ingredient.  Sometimes I'll use egg or crabmeat, but it's almost always cucumber. 

Not only are there tutorials for making sushi, there are also tutorials for eating sushi.  You can also find plenty of primers for sushi, but most restaurants will have a picture with translation so you know what you're eating.  Then again, if you want to learn to make your own, why not take a class?  Most kitchen supply stores and some grocery stores in urban areas will offer cooking classes and more often than not, there's usually a sushi class.



National Cherry Tart Day

Food Timeline once again provides us with the history of tarts, but I can't seem to find anything about cherry tarts specifically.  But really, who cares who invented the cherry tart when you're chowing down on a slice?  A lot of recipes for a cherry tart will use fresh cherries, but those can be hard to find.   Frozen cherries are sometimes hard to find, too, but if you're looking to make an out-of-season tart, frozen cherries are going to be your only choice. 

You could try putting a spin on the traditional cherry tart by making a Cherry Tart Tartin.