MERRY CHRISTMAS

Japanese Tradition

An informative and funny video about Sushi, enjoy! But don't believe everything they say, I hope they are not all true.

Sushi Session at Seewen with Familie Herrli

My mother-in-law Colette is a gymnastic teacher, one of her student, Mrs. Herrli booked a Sushi Session for herself, her two daughters, son-in-laws and another friend the last Saturday. She lives a bit outside of Basel, in a lovely village called Seewen.

Apparently there is lots of snow up there and Colette is a bit scare to drive in snowy condition, so one of her daughters, Caroline and her husband, Martin came to Basel and picked us up and drove us there. We were very lucky, because it was quite a drive and in a different world, only 15 minutes away from Basel city, it was white everywhere. There was a 10 cm snow on top of house roofs, trees were laden with snow.

It was a gorgeous day, as we ascended more uphill, the more sun we got, the more blue the sky. As we stepped out of the car, it was a winter wonderland! I couldn't believe my eyes, sun, blue sky, white top little houses, just like in a picture book.

Mrs. Herrli's house is beautiful, huge windows with a great view. And she got this lovely spacious wintergarden with a long dining table. I could just imagine the dinners she hosts there. Her kitchen is also perfect for a cooking class.

Everyone were so nice and very enthusiastic learners, Mrs. Herrli came out and said she actually never had sushi before, but thought that would be a nice idea to do with her family before Christmas. We all had so much fun, and they really enjoy the self-made Sushi experience.
All the snapshoots are by Colette. Thank you so much for your assistance! Thank you Mrs. Herrli for hosting this sushi session at your beautiful house!

Sushi Session Got Publicity

A journalist from a local newspaper saw one of my flyer at my friend, Vanessa's clothing store Naked, an awesome clothing store in town,
NAKED del Moral, Hutgasse 21, 4001 Basel.


Anyway, the journalist thought that she should write an article of my Sushi cooking class. So I invited her and her photographer to my next session to have a look at what goes down in my sushi course.
Many people saw the article and called for a course. Thank you very much to Beatrice at Baslerstab!

Sushi Session With Mr and Mrs Thomann

Around March this year, shortly after an article was published about Sushi Session on Baslerstab a local newspaper. A kind Swiss lady, Frau Jenni called me and booked a Sushi Session on 1st of Nov, 2008, it is a present for her sister and brother-in-law, Mr and Mrs. Thomann.

Because I do have a day job, so I would usually go and buy all the materials I need in a few days in advance. I would buy all dry goods for the Sushi kit a few days before. I got the Sushi knifes from Globus, rice and seaweed, etc, at A-Chau by the SBB Bahnhof. I printed out recipes in German. Then on the day before the session, I would get all fresh materials, I bought 0.5 kg of Tuna and 0.5 kg of Salmon and also the veggies at Manor on Clarastrasse.
I love Manor, their products are very fresh and all nicely arranged and the fish are really fresh. And for sushi we need the best. When you ask for sashimi quality, they would kindly select a good piece for you. I usually smile brightly and ask if they could please cut a piece from the unopen package. And they usually smile back and present me a mouth watering piece of Tuna and Salmon. They have a good selection of fish to be eaten raw(of course you can't compare that to bigger city), Sea-wolf and Rotezunge are both very good for sushi. They also have octopus and very good scallops.

On Saturday morning, I got up at 8, got myself ready and started to prepare all the ingredients. Cut all vegetables, grilled the Zucchinni and Aubergine. I always prepare the materials quite well before the session, so when I get there, I would have enough time to make the rice, soup and set up the whole thing and start to teach.
After preparing the vegetables, I washed and wrap the filets in papertowel for a few minute. Then I start to cut the fish, half for Nigiri(thinner cut), half for Sashimi(slightly thicker cut). I layered paper towel in between the slices of fish , so it can sucks away the extra fluid and stay nice and fresh. As soon as I am done cutting, I wrapped them up and put them back in the fridge until I leave.

My lovely husband drove me and my gears to Bruderholz, a beautiful residential area in Basel. The leaves of the trees are turning into beautiful red and orange. The sun was shinning. Fall is in the air.

Ring Ring! "Hello! I am Carmen, I am here to show you how to make sushi!" Two kind smiling faces greeted me at the door. The lovely Swiss couple showed me inside of their lovely home. I put down my heavy load in their kitchen and I saw a fire red Japanese maple tree in the garden, then I knew, today is going to be a great day!

Mr. and Mrs. Thomann turns out to be seasoned visitors of Japan, Mr. Thomann spoke many phrases of Japanese, so we spent the afternoon making sushi and chatting away about Japan and Asian Cultures. They have been to Japan many times, and love this country since the very first visit. That's why Mrs. Jenni had the idea to give them a Sushi Session as a present. It was a bit sad because Mrs. Jenni recently had an accident and she was not feeling so well. She and her husband came later to join us. I hope that they were not diappointed that I am not actually Japanese decent. But we did all share a passion for Japanese food.

Here are some pictures they sent me of our Sushi Session, we tried out many styles of sushi, Makis, Uramaki(inside out), Nigiris, Gukan(battleship) and they totally mastered them. And I was truly proud of my students and their gorgeous self-made sushi platters on that beautiful November afternoon. Thank you very much Mr and Mrs Thomann for hosting the session. And big thanks and best greetings to Mrs Jenni. I hope you have recovered well.

Introducing Sushi Session in Basel

After many years of making sushi for my friends and family and noticing sushi's raisig popularity in Basel area. I decided to create a fun sushi course for anyone who would like to learn how to make their own sushi at home.


Level I

* Introduction to sushi making essentials
* How to prepare the perfect sushi rice and sushi vinegar;
* How to correctly wash, cook and mix the rice
* How to prepare Miso soup and Japanese seaweed salad
* How to prepare Japanese omelet (Tamago)
* Demonstration of 3 styles of Maki Sushi (Temaki, Maki and Uramaki)
* Demonstration of Nigiri and Gunkan Sushi
* Try out the different sushi techniques you just learnt
* Prepare easy to make decorations, platting and presentation
* Finally tasting your self-made sushi with your Sushi Session buddy together


Preparing Sushi is really great fun and rewarding, with my easy-to-follow instructions, plus a little bit of practice, you can soon produce fresh, beautiful and delicious sushi at home. Your guests will sure be impressed by your new learned skill.


Sushi Session is available only in Basel area, Saturdays only, one session is around 5 hours.

4 - 6 people each session
Fee: 150 CHF/person

Course fee includes all materials, sake, green tea and a basic sushi kit(with a Sushi knife) and recipes for each participant to take home.

It's an ideal present idea for someone you love, or a great team-building activity.

Please call Carmen for more information and booking:

Email: info@sushisession.com
Natel: +41 (78) 667 6046