Although many people still blanch and hesitate when considering sampling sushi, 
Japanese restaurants are increasing rapidly as more and more people partake of these 
delicacies. Tuna, eel, clam octopus and other raw treasures from the sea are becoming 
more and more popular, One of the new taste sensations at sushi restaurants these 
days is an unusual fish called the pufferfish or luchu. 

The luchu is not served as other sushi dishes are; rather, it is served with ceremony 
and flair worthy of the exquisite care and beauty the Japanese give many of their 
dishes. Perhaps it is because the puffer fish contains a poison gland that must be 
carefully removed before the fish is served. The sushi chef carefully, but with elaborate 
ceremony, prepares the fish in front of his customers, carefully cutting out the poison 
gland and ceremoniously shaping the fish. Custom demands that the luchu be cut into 
small precise square pieces. After cutting out the poison gland, the chef is ready to 
cut the fish into cubes. At this point, when the fish is to be cut and server, the chef 
announces with a flourish: .... "We who are about to dice a luchu."