WSJ: There’s No Ham in Hamburgers, and Other Lessons I’ve Learned About American Food

Throughout my entire year at Columbia, I was scared of almost all other ethnic food, especially sushi, which I found weird and repulsive. “Eating raw fish?” I would say to a friend in disgust. Just before graduation, a close friend from California said he would like to have me try sushi with him before he went back home. Not wanting to disappoint him, I went with him to a sushi place. He ordered for both of us because I had no clue what the stuff was. He was talking to me but I wasn’t really listening. I was staring at the two wooden sticks next to my plate trying to figure out how I was going to eat with them. But luckily, when the food came, I figured it out quickly.

In the summer of 2005, another friend took me to one of the best sushi places I have been to, and since then sushi has become as essential in my diet as Indian food. I moved from simple veggie rolls to a variety of fish pieces and then to special rolls with lots of different ingredients. I have taken some Iraqi friends who have visited out for sushi but they have found it hard to swallow.