Grate expectations

An interesting little package from The Wasabi Company fell into my lap the other day. Self-contained and tidy, in typical Japanese style, it consisted of a fresh wasabi root, a simple metal grater and a tiny bamboo tool to 'sweep' the grated wasabi into a ball.


About 10 years ago I spent an enjoyable summer putting together a book on sushi – and eating it by the bucket load. At the time fresh wasabi root was almost impossible for the home cook to get hold of, so we referred to the powdered stuff. Needless to say I was very excited to get hold of the real thing. Suddenly I felt a craving for sushi coming on.

Herman makes a cake

On the tenth day we solemnly divided Herman into four portions and I carried one of them home, worried that too much shaking around might kill him.

Opening up the container, however, he was still frothing at the mouth, which is a good sign for yeast-based starters, less good for humans/dogs etc.

I left Herman watching football while I weighed out the ingredients and lined his coffin, I mean baking tin.