Marisa Baggett had never seen sushi, never tasted sushi, when a customer asked for it at her Starkville Mississippi café. And that launched her quest to master the age old Japanese culinary tradition, graduating from the California Sushi Academy, and championing creativity that remains true to the fresh and local soul of sushi, such as her southern influenced sushi made with ingredients including pickled okra, catfish, and collard greens. She says anyone can learn to make their own sushi at home, and she’s written the cookbooks to help people make it happen. She’s also writing about Japanese food — sushi and much more — in a Substack column called Dear Sensei at dearsensei.substack.com.

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