Made for sushi

Ahh, simplicity.

That’s what I love about these plates. They are unobtrusively simplistic. Nothing about them grabs your attention. They are the perfect backdrop for whatever sits thereupon.

They started as thick, beefy slabs of clay; stretched, rough-hewn edges juxtaposed against what would soon be a smooth, glassy surface.

That surface is Shino – one of my all-time favorite go-to glazes, especially for Japanese ware.

Shino’s orangey-brown flecks perfectly complement sushi’s characteristic colors – black nori hugging or being clung to by small, translucent grains of white rice. Curled orange shrimp and florescent-orange clumps of masago; red and pink slices of sashimi; green julienned cucumbers; pale-white slivers of ginger. Wasabi.

It’s as if sushi said, “Give it up for me, man,” and my plates – made specifically with these morsels in mind – were honored to reply, “With pleasure, my love. With pleasure.”