News of Norway, April 3, 2003
The ballroom of the Willard Inter-Continental Washington Hotel was packed with sushi- and sake-loving people from all over town on Tuesday. With a total of 30 chefs, the sushi bar at the event was one of the longest in the nation, and possibly the most tasty.
"Many of these guys are celebrity chefs in Japan," claimed a Japanese participant while waiting in line for a taste of the seafood.
For the first time ever, the salmon used for the event was Norwegian. A total of 200 lbs of fresh Norwegian salmon was consumed during a few hours at the hotel. And, as a suggested addition to washing the sushi down with sake, the Norwegian team had brought a case of Aquavit, a spicy traditional Scandinavian liquor.
But why this Norwegian spice to a specifically Japanese event?
"Norway is the largest salmon exporter in the world, and much of our salmon actually goes to Japan. I think it proves that this is fish of a very high quality, because as we all know, the Japanese are very specific about the quality of their seafood," says Norway's ambassador to the United States, Knut Vollebaek.