Unctuous and Newsworthy Notes

Sushi News: 

We got mentioned (http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2002-08-09/food_foodofile.html ) in the Austin Chronicle again. They spelled my name wrong (it's Levitt, not Leavitt, sheesh!), but I was touched, nonetheless. You rule Virginia!!!!!

Meanwhile, the New York Times was busy sniffing out the oh-so-obvious trends and arrived at this drug-reference-in-a-headline (because everyone knows that sushi tastes best when you're really stoned):

"Sushi Cooks Are Rolling Their Own" (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/14/dining/14SUSH.html?ex=1030428382&ei=1&en=3513642df6b3541f )

Amongst the boring quotes from people who, for one reason or another, have made some sushi for themselves, was one interesting point:

According to Dr. David Lurie, an assistant professor of Japanese history and literature at Columbia University, the California roll, a stout roll of avocado, imitation crab (actually compressed pollock) and cucumber, was perhaps the first sushi variant to be developed in North America. It is believed to have originated in Los Angeles in the late 60's or early 70's, where the avocado may have stood in for raw tuna, with its unctuous texture.