Sushi, Illustrated

Raw salmon on hot white rice, soy sauce thick enough to coat your tongue. If I had the money I’d eat nothing but this until something from the ocean depths took me out. I really wouldn’t care.

Elia Colombo is an Italian designer who apparently feels the same way about sushi. He’s made it his mascot—a little character that’s been following him through his work for years, appearing in all these small adventures. His sushi has learned to use a samurai sword. It’s swum through soy sauce like an ocean. It’s been a flying superhero. My mother always said you don’t play with food, but I think she’d make an exception for this.

He’s created a whole world of sushi characters now. There’s a Temaki that looks slightly unhinged. A Futomaki that looks genuinely dangerous. A bowl of Sashimi that seems completely at peace with the universe. All of them living these little illustrated lives.

I think that’s why the next time I eat sushi, it’ll be different. Not because I’m going to think some profound thought about it, but because now I know these little characters exist. Each sushi is a small adventurer with a story before it becomes dinner. And that story is part of the taste somehow, even if you can’t quite taste it. Even if it’s ridiculous to think about while you’re eating.