California Roll

choi

Danny Lewis, Japan Honors the Creator of the California Roll. Smithsonian Magazine, June 16, 2016 (blog).
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-new ... nia-roll-180959446/

Note:
(a) The first paragraph cites CBC News, and the last Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The two organizations are one and the same.

The CBC News report supplies a photo of the chef and says, "Tojo was born and trained as chef in Japan. In 1971 he moved to Vancouver and opened his first restaurant — Tojo's — in 1988."

(b) This report uses "California Roll."

California roll
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_roll
(is a makizushi; often the outer layer of rice in an inside-out roll (ura-maki) is sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds, tobiko or masago)
(i) Japanese English dictionary:
* maki 巻(P); 巻き 【まき】 (n): "(1) roll (eg of cloth); (2) winding; (3) volume (of book)"
   ^ Its corresponding verb is maku 巻く(P); 捲く.
* ura 裏 【うら】 (n): " * * * (3) lining; inside"    (Japanese pronunciation, of course)
* tobiko とびこ 《飛び子; 飛子》 (n): "(See 飛魚) flying fish roe"
   ^ tobi-uo とびうお 《飛び魚; 飛魚》 (n): "flying fish (esp. the Japanese flying fish, Cypselurus agoo"   (The "u-o" is Japanese pronunciation of 魚.)
   ^ tobu 飛ぶ(P); 翔ぶ(oK) 【とぶ】 (v): "to fly; to soar"
* toro とろ[no kanji] (n): "fatty cut (esp. of tuna belly)"
(ii) "masago" 真砂子, where "ma" is Japanese pronunciation for 真 (true, real; similar to Greek "eu-").
(A) The "go" in "Masago" is "ko" (not positioned in the first syllable) that is softened to "go"
(B) Masago 真砂子 is also a female given name in Japan.
(iii) Warren Ransom (author), Sushi Terminology and Pronunciation Guide. SushiFAQ.com, undated.
http://www.sushifaq.com/sushi-sashimi-info/sushi-terminology/

Quote:

"Masago – (mah-sah-goh) – capelin (smelt) roe, very similar to tobiko but slightly more orange in colour, not as common as tobiko in North America (though often caught here). Capelin, shishamo [柳葉魚: Japanese for one particular species of smelt], is also served grilled (after being lightly salted) whole with the roe in it as an appetizer.

"Tobiko – (toh-bee-koh) – flying-fish roe, red and crunchy, often served as part of maki-zushi but also as nigiri [握]-zushi commonly with quail egg yolk (uzura [鶉] no tamago [卵]) on top uncooked.

(iv) Capelin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capelin
(Mallotus villosus; Males reach 20 cm in length, while females are up to 25 cm long)

Quote: "Often, masago is used as a substitute for tobiko, flying fish roe, due to its similarity and taste although the mouthfeel is different due to the individual eggs being smaller and it is less crunchy than tobiko.

(v)
(A) The Wiki page mentions "Mashita" (without first name) several times. Turns out that some say Ichirō MASHITA of Tokyo Kaikan Co, Ltd 東京会館の寿司職人・真下一郎 in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles is the real inventor of the California roll. In the Web there are a few postings that says Hidekazu TŌJŌ 東條英員 had, at the time of invention, customers from Los Angeles.
(B) The ja.wikipedia.org has a page for California roll (in katakana: リフォルニア ロール) where section 2 発祥 places 真下一郎 unvented in 1963 (and named it California years later), and 東條英員 had somethig alike in 1974.
(C) Here is the pronouncement for the February 2016 appointment, which does not explain.

日本食普及の親善大使（平成２８年２月任命）.
http://www.maff.go.jp/j/press/shokusan/syokubun/pdf/160226-02.pdf
("東條 英員 Tojo's Restaurant オーナーシェフ [owner chef]")

The MAFF in the URL stands for Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 農林水産省.