A couple months back on my birthday I got a lovely message sent to me by Mr. BF; “Greetings from Benihana Restaurant Al Bustan Rotana Hotel.
We are pleased to invite you on the upcoming Cooking Class (Sushi) for Benihana”

WOAH!!! A Sushi class! One of the awesomest birthday gifts. Since the class had been scheduled a week from the invite date, I had a whole 7 days of uncontrollable excitement sizzling and bubbling in my tummy. I had a mild case or tourette’s as it seemed, it randomly made me blurt out the words “oh my god! i’m so excited” in the middle of dinners, meetings and just casual conversation. The thought of doing a cooking class… a Sushi class to be specific and with the BF was just JOY!

When the day finally came, I trotted to Benihanna like little red riding hood and what a coincidence I was wearing red too We sat down, and the nerds that we are, we quickly glimpsed at the mini handbook (four pages filed in a paper back cover) of all the things that would be covered in our class today. As the chef was giving us a rundown of what to expect, his apprentice returned with a huge tub full of sushi rice.

We looked at the glistening perfectly cooked rice; “this is the secret of good sushi” said the chef; Its all in the rice and it truely is. The grains should be perfect, plump, firm enough to hold a roll, soft enough to disintegrate on your tongue, but definitely not mushy and past-ey. They have to be perfectly cooked; and with the right amount of vinegar and with a precise stirring technique you are bound to have the ingredient to ultimate sushi happiness.

Our Japanese cooking fest was simply awesome, with the likes of tempura, hand made rolls, sushi, sashimi and some teppanyaki. Below are a small glimpse of my most enjoyable birthday experience.

Enjoy!

Eaternally Yours,

Drina C.