CIA Students Study the Art and Technique of Japanese Cuisine
Author Sarah Rolph ’22/25 is a Culinary Science major.
“A life changing experience, I think everyone should go.”—Onajah Ebanks ’25
Have you wanted to study abroad? Take a deep dive into your favorite cuisine, experience cultures firsthand, meet new people, and try food in its historical homeland. One of the beauties of being a chef is that everyone eats! That means we can pack up our knife roll or baking kit, hop on a plane, and start a life almost anywhere in the world. This is probably why the food industry attracts so many people with the travel bug, including CIA student Onajah Ebanks ’25 who completed his concentration in Japanese cuisine.
During this study abroad trip he and his class spent the entire semester zeroing in on Japanese cuisine; they read about its history, spoke about its culture, and spent weeks in the kitchen honing their skills. Next, they hopped on a plane to Japan and spent 10 days exploring the country with a mix of urban and rural areas, speaking to generational experts, and tasing the best food Japan has to offer. On their return, students complete a special project to show their peers what they’ve learned. For Oanaja, it was bento boxes. He was excited to share his experience with us.
What aspect of this trip was most impactful to you?
Seeing the standard of craft and respect put into everything they do. Japan had the best food I’ve ever eaten, not just Japanese but French or Italian too. The base standard for everything is just so incredibly high, career-wise they don’t care what you do, but you had better do it really well. From the simple wrapping up a souvenir, to cutting sashimi with a 10th generation sushi master, you can feel the care and respect they have. We visited a cafe that had been set up for people with disabilities and the elderly, and it was amazing to see the attention paid to detail to make sure everyone had a great experience. You can feel compassion.
Why was it important for you to study abroad?
For one of my papers in another class, I’d shown interest in Japan and the professor suggested I register for the class to explore that interest. I had like three days to decide to go. Being from Jamaica and growing up in New York, I had been around different cultures but felt this was important to immerse myself fully in a culture to become a more rounded person. I also liked the idea of only spending part of the semester overseas, a whole semester seemed overwhelming.
How did the semester course prepare you for the trip?
Really well… they were very intense, the first few weeks we spent every morning in a classroom learning history and culture, then spent six hours every afternoon in the kitchen learning traditional methods and techniques. My class even wanted to come an hour early, so the professor just added more stuff into the curriculum! We covered everything from knife cuts to the traditional way to butcher eels. It’s sponsored by Suntory, so we got really high-quality ingredients, like all the fish was imported from Japan.
What was your favorite place you’ve visited?
We had learned about the Tōdai-ji Temple in class and this visit was the perfect bridge between what we’d learned in class and the real world. We met Monk Sanagawa who taught us about Buddhist practices and gave us a thorough tour of the temple, we even got to see behind the giant statue! What put this temple over the top was the bowing deer, over the years the monks have trained them to bow for treats. You have to be careful though because if you see you have a lot of them, they’ll chase you.
Any advice for the young culinarians hoping to travel?
Do it really early, save your money, and put it towards travel. Stop thinking about “should I go?” Just think “when do I have some time and how am I going to pay for this” and go. It’s really addicting. Show up like a blank slate, forget your biases, keep an open mind and try things… try to learn a few phrases too.
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