Considered by many to be the world’s greatest sushi chef, Jiro Ono is the proprietor of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a small, nondescript, sushi-only restaurant located down a flight of stairs on the concourse of a Tokyo subway station.

The restaurant serves only sushi and a few beverages—no appetizers, no miso soup, no desserts. The decor is classic sushi bar plainness: white walls, wood booths, tables and sushi bar. Customers must use a shared public bathroom outside the restaurant.

Yet despite the humble surroundings—a total lack of ambiance—Sukiyabashi Jiro is the first sushi bar to be awarded the top honor, three stars, by the demanding reviewers of the Guide Michelin. The reviewers famously give two stars for memorably great food and the third star for great ambiance.

The Real Message

We love sushi; it’s our favorite food. Yet for us, the inspiration of the film is not how to make beautiful sushi. It’s about the work ethic of a master craftsman who never stops seeking perfection.

At an age where most people are long retired, Jiro—who was hospitalized after a heart attack at at age 70 but never slowed down—gets up early in the morning and works a long day. He samples every piece of fish, trains his small staff of five (including his son) and stands behind the sushi bar to carefully mold and present his sushi. He’s there when the restaurant closes, after dinner service.

Jiro’s eldest son Yoshikazu, the traditional heir to his father’s business, is a bit like Prince Charles: past 50, diligently doing his job, respecting his venerated parent and no doubt wondering when he will get to run the show. His younger brother Takashi already has a larger, glamorous sushi bar in a fashionable neighborhood.

Follow the film to a theater near you on the official website.

Love sushi? Learn all about it in our beautiful Sushi Glossary.

A rainbow of fruits and veggies (photo © Stephanie Suchat).

In elementary school, we learned how to remember the order of the colors of the rainbow: ROYGBIV—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

Now, nutritionists advise us to “eat the rainbow.” The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics made this year’s theme “Eat Right with Color,” to focus on improving eating habits, simply by eating a rainbow of colors.

Since March is National Nutrition Month, we share their recommendations.

So see how many of these colors you can work into daily meals. Make a game of it and get other family members to recommend their favorite foods—as long as they’re ROYGBIV.

The following suggestions recommend just one food per color, but through the power of the Internet, you can find many more.

 
RAINBOW TRIVIA: It was Sir Isaac Newton who named and defined the seven colors of the rainbow.
 
 

The recipe was developed at the R Lounge in Times Square, New York City, a venue listed by USA Today as one of the top 50 “best view” restaurants in the U.S. If you’re in the area, take in lunch (brunch on weekends) or dinner and enjoy the almost-360° view.

The cocktail is paired with cookies. Is this the beginning of a new trend? Does it presage dessert pairings of cocktails and cookies (or cupcakes)?

We hope so!

To Serve As Dessert

To turn this recipe into even more of a dessert, make little cookie ice cream sandwiches with vanilla ice cream.

 
IRISH OATMEAL COCKTAIL RECIPE

Ingredients For One Drink

 
Preparation

1. Combine spirits in a cocktail shaker. Pour over ice into a rocks glass.

2. Alternative: Shake with ice and strain into a Martini glass.

3. Garnish with a dab of whipped cream and a scant sprinkle of cinnamon.

 
Need An Oatmeal Cookie Recipe?

Here’s a classic recipe from Land O’ Lakes. To make mini cookies, use a rounded teaspoon instead of the rounded tablespoon in the recipe.

 
WHAT EXACTLY IS IRISH OATMEAL?

Irish oatmeal (as well as Scottish oatmeal) is simply steel-cut oats. The style is chewier and nuttier in flavor than other types of oatmeal. It’s also higher in fiber because it is less processed than rolled oats (and much higher in fiber and nutrients than instant oatmeal). Here’s an explanation from Julie Lanford, MPH, RD, CSO, LDN:

 
Normally one wouldn’t bake with regular steel cut oats, because they remain hard and chewy (that’s the point of using steel-cut oats). But if you want to “keep it Irish,” use McCann’s Quick & Easy Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal.
 
*Buttershots is a butterscotch flavored liqueur/schnapps. The flavor of butterscotch is a blend of butter and brown sugar.
†Goldschlager is a clear cinnamon liqueur that has hundreds of tiny flakes of real gold. It’s beautiful to drink in shots.

One of 5 varieties of organic Greek yogurt.
Photo courtesy Wallaby.

Greek yogurt—properly called Greek-style yogurt when made outside of Greece—is typically triple-strained, removing much of the water to create a very thick texture.

Wallaby, based in Napa Valley, California, is known for its creamy, pudding-like yogurts which they call Australian-style, a term we’ve not come across elsewhere. We’d call them custard-style, French-style or Swiss-style (see our Yogurt Glossary for the different types of yogurt). The founders were inspired to make the yogurt while enjoying many a yogurt in Australia.

A press release notes that “Once the founders had decided [to make Greek yogurt], they tried every brand of Greek yogurt that they could get their hands on. When they were done, they ultimately concluded that there just weren’t any organic Greek yogurts out there that tasted really great. What followed was an intense effort of repeated trial and error, to come up with what they ultimately felt would be a Greek yogurt unmatched in taste.”

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But if you’re an organic yogurt eater who is fond of Oikos* Greek yogurt from Stonyfield—or delight in the Greek-style yogurts from Chobani and FAGE Total—note that Wallaby takes a different approach.

*The Oikos brand name is also licensed to Dannon, a part-owner of Stonyfield, which produces a non-organic line of Dannon Oikos Greek yogurt. Yes, it is confusing!

Wallaby Organic Greek Lowfat Yogurt is available in a variety of flavors and sizes.

 
Learn your yogurt types in our Yogurt Glossary.

You need practice to poach the perfect egg, but consider it an important part of your culinary skills. If you listen to television’s Top Chefs, you’ll hear the masters say that their first challenge to a prospective line chef is to poach an egg.

Today, chef Johnny Gnall takes you through the process. Tomorrow, we’ll present a video.

Says Chef Johnny: A poached egg is surely the most elegant of egg preparations. Under hollandaise at a Sunday brunch, a Mimosa nearby, all atop a white tablecloth, it promises a silky, runny yolk within a delicate white pillow.

But getting that perfect pillow at home can be quite challenging if you haven’t mastered the technique. A poached egg requires the most finesse in the kitchen.

Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do (and look out for) that will make the poaching egg-sperience much easier to master. Your first few tries will probably be learning experiences, but if you use these guidelines, it shouldn’t take long before you hear egg-sclamations of excitement at your breakfast table.

1. Get a large pot. To begin, get a pot of water on the stove. A large pot is ideal because the more space the egg has to get comfortable, so to speak, the easier it will be for things to turn out right. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of distilled white vinegar and a couple pinches of salt.

2. Heat the water. Start with the heat on high, as if you were going to bring the water to a boil. You’re aiming for a temperature of 160° to 180°F; but if you don’t have a thermometer, look for little bubbles escaping from the bottom of the pot. The big bubbles from boiling water (212°F) will jostle your egg as it cooks, making it hard to achieve that attractive pillow shape. TIP: I find it is easier (and faster) to get the water to nearly boiling and then lower the heat to attain the ideal temperature.

3. Crack the egg. Once the water is at the right temperature, watch it for a few minutes to make sure the temperature stays constant. Then crack the egg into a glass, mug or dish (Editor’s Note: We use a Pyrex custard cup). This will ensure that any pieces of shell that fall in can be picked out. The best tool to use is actually a larger piece of eggshell. While fingertips, spoons and other utensils create a game of “catch the egg shell,” pushing the shard away, another piece of eggshell actually attracts the shard—almost magically.

4. Lower the egg. Give the pot a few swirls with a slotted spoon, then gently drop in the egg by placing the glass or dish close to the water’s surface. The swirling will help the egg white form tightly, as opposed to dispersing bits of white in the pot. Then let everything sit for a bit; if you mess with the egg or the water before the proteins have a chance to coagulate (set), the egg is likely to come apart. Watch and wait for at least ninety seconds before you do anything else.

5. Check the white. Once the egg looks like it has begun to come together, use the slotted spoon to very gently lift it to the surface of the water. The white is the part you should be checking, as it will cook first. If it is still translucent in some parts, give it another 30-60 seconds and check it again. You want the white to be opaque, and the yolk still runny. You can check the yolk’s consistency by lightly poking it with your finger. If it gives, sort of like a water balloon, you’re in good shape.

6. Remove the egg. Once the white is opaque (and your yolk is still deliciously runny), you’re ready to remove the egg. Use the slotted spoon to lift it gently out of the water, scooping under it to catch all of the white. Rest the spoon on a towel for a moment to drain as much water as possible (this is why you have been using a slotted spoon). When you plate the egg, you can let it slide gently from the spoon or you can delicately flip it over (a useful move if your topside ended up less attractive than your bottom side).

7. Season. Don’t forget to season with salt and pepper, a necessary finish. The best choice is coarsely ground black pepper and sea salt.

Now get cracking!

Need visuals? Watch for a video, tomorrow.

An eggcellent overview of the different types of eggs.