Making Sushi and Making a Blog Are Surprisingly Similar

David Fishman is a blogger and food enthusiast who likes to cook and blog about how to make sushi at his website, How to Make Sushi At Home.

You’ll notice that I’ve found a clever way to work this into the first paragraph of my guest blog post. That wasn’t the purpose of relating it to you right now though, so give me a chance and keep reading.

It’s the juxtaposition of blogging and sushi preparation that I’d like to talk about, because indeed, they are listed together in my author section, and indeed, they have a number of interesting parallels inherent in their existence. Let’s talk for a little bit about why making sushi is actually exactly like making a blog. For those of you with blogs out there, I hope you’ll be convinced to start making sushi (hey I have a great place for you to learn *hint hint*). For those of you who make sushi, maybe you’ll be inspired to start blogging.

• For those unfamiliar with sushi, the green, flattened seaweed stuff is called nori. Nori forms the base of a sushi roll (also called makizushi, or maki rolls). Everything must be built upon the nori, and if the nori is cheap or rips, the sushi rolls will fail. The nori serves as a solid foundation for the rest of the tasty ingredients to built on.
• For those unfamiliar with blogging, the most common blogging platform is a website powered by Wordpress. Wordpress forms the base of a self-hosted blog (short for weblog). Everything must be built upon the Wordpress platform, and if the Wordpress installation is glitched, bugged, or installed incorrectly, the blog will fail. Wordpress serves as a solid foundation for the rest of the blog to be built on.For those of you unfamiliar with comparisons, well, you saw what I did there. :) I’ve got more too.
• Something about sushi that everyone takes for granted unless it’s significantly bad is the sushi rice. Sushi rice has a very precise preparation process, complicated indeed for something that is wrapped up into a roll and eaten without much of a thought. Anyone who has ever experienced undercooked or poorly seasoned sushi rice, however, knows that the penalty for messing up the rice preparation makes the total sushi experience negative. Really, it’s something you don’t notice unless it’s really bad, so don’t expect any praise for doing it right.
• When blogging, the blog theme and layout are something that people take for granted. Unless the nav bar is messed up, a border is too long, an image isn’t displaying properly, or the header is filled with garbage, we don’t really pay much attention to the theme. When the theme IS messed up, however, the entire blog suffers. Everyone who comes to the website comments on how the website seems to be cheaply done, improperly coded, and generally just bad. It’s something you’d never notice if the nav bar, images, header and borders are all working properly, so you can never expect praise for the website working just as it’s supposed to.Wow, I did it again. Don’t believe me yet? I’ll keep going…
• When it comes down to it, the real worth of a sushi roll is in the ingredients. What kinds of fish and vegetables or fruits you’ve included in the roll determine the overall taste of the roll and really create the lasting impression of the sushi. By changing the ingredients, you can change the essence of the roll and there are so many ingredients for you to choose from. It’s essential that your ingredients be fresh if you want the sushi to taste great and be the best it can be.
• When it comes down to it, the real worth of a blog is in the content posts. The things you choose to write about and the topics you cover determine the overall tone of the blog and create a lasting impression on your readers. By changing your blog topics, you change the heart and soul of the blog and of course, there are so many topics for you to choose from. It’s essential that your ideas be fresh if you want the blog to get a following and be the best it can be.Now you’ve got to be a believer. But just in case you aren’t…
• Sushi is usually garnished with wasabi, soy sauce and ginger, as well as other condiments like spicy mayonnaise and flying fish roe. These ingredients aren’t necessary but add to the overall taste of the sushi and enhance the experience greatly. They are like small modifications or tweaks to your sushi, choosing whether you want it to be spicy, salty or bitter. You have to plate the condiments after the sushi is ready, and a single bad condiment can ruin the whole sushi plate, so make sure they are fresh.
• Blogs are usually garnished with a host of plugins, like SEO packages, tag optimizers, related posts spawners, sitemap generators and auto-cachers. They aren’t necessary but add to the overall experience of your blog and enhance the usability greatly. They are like small modifications or tweaks to your blog, choosing whether your website will be shared with social networks, displayed a certain way or be able to turned into audio content. You have to install plugins after you have the rest of the website set up and a single glitchy or outdated plugin can make the entire blog run poorly.It should be totally apparent by now that blogging and sushi making are, in fact, the same thing. So why not try a little cross training? Apparently learning how to make sushi will make you a better blogger and if you’re already a good blogger, then you’re bound to be a damn fine sushi chef!David Fishman is a blogger and food enthusiast from Atlanta, GA who is employed at Response Mine Interactive, a digital marketing agency specializing in new customer acquisition. In this spare time, he likes to cook and blog about how to make sushi at his website, How to Make Sushi At Home.