Make some smooth moves this holiday season. More

that green stuff is fake.

YOU. You wasabi-abusing, soy sauce-drenching, chronic spicy tuna-eater, you. You think you know sushi? You’re wrong. Here are some tips to rachet up your sushi sophistication.
Sashimi should be eaten with a small amount of soy sauce and wasabi.

Sushi (nigiri) should not be eaten with any wasabi as the chef has already included some in the preparation of the sushi. It’s actually perfectly acceptable to eat nigiri with your hands, and usually in one bite, whereas sashimi should always be eaten with chopsticks.

Sushi can also be dipped in soy sauce (sparingly), fish-side down, to prevent the rice from absorbing tons of soy.

And some more tips from Vanity Fair — did you know that the best bluefin depends on the season? In winter, look for fish from NE Japan, in summer, the best is from the Northeast.

Back to wasabi — most of the real wasabi we eat is farmed, instead of the wild wasabi. Masayoshi Takayama, the chef of Masa, searches the stuff out in the mountains of Japan during his summer vacations. You’ll just have to pay $500 to try it. The wild variant needs to be consumed quickly after grinding. Then there’s the green powder stuff above, which is fake, fake, fake.

As for “spicy” anything: you knew deep down it was somehow wrong, but beware of spicy stuff at the cheapie joints — it’s often used to cover up subpar fish.

Related:
Etiquette Time: Wine + Business Dinners
Etiquette Time: Cheese
Etiquette Time: Vino

It’s the time of year where you may not only be forced to hang out with your family, but your dreaded in-laws or in-laws to be. Isn’t it funny how f’kd up other people’s families can be? But for those of you with bfs/gfs from a different background, these are dangerous times — you’re like a fish out of water, a banker out of of his cubicle, if you will. B.A., our controversial resident WASP, has some tips for those of you who have to spend your X-mas among the white-bread, freckle-faced crowd, and to do it with elan.

Q: First, B.A., where do WASPs celebrate Christmas? Where will they take me????

A: You will most likely be getting on the MetroNorth to New England. New England is the breeding ground for the WASP of the nation, and almost every WASP in the country was either born in this area, or is second generation from this area. Prime real estate areas include: Greenwich, CT Wellesley, MA and Manhasset, NY to name a few. Also, the Main Line areas of Pennsylvania, as well as the Eastern Shore areas of Maryland and DC are WASPalicious too.

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Does the thought of a room full of a bunch of people you don’t know make you want to hide? If so, then you’re probably not looking forward to the holiday season. And I feel for those of you who are facing a holiday party and have just joined a new company.

There are a couple of strategies that you can use if you’re party-shy. The NYT chronicles the attempts of an expert mingler as she cracks a few tough crowds, and take heart because even she gets dissed.

The most important take-away is that no one gives a damn what you’re doing, and consequently, it’s OK to stand alone, or do anything for that matter. As the party expert says, “They’re all just thinking about themselves. So anything you do is usually fine.”

On the other hand her recommendation to target the loneliest person in the room is the wrong way to go. Sure, it’s a decent way to kill off a few minutes, but it’s deeply unsatisfying and ultimately will not lead to new conversation opportunities (they’re standing alone for a reason!)

In summary:

• Standing alone? Yes, be OK with this.
• Limit conversations to 5-10 minutes.
• Try to make it a little bit less obvious that you are trying to get something out of this person.
• Talk to other wallflower? Tempting, but no.

And some add’l tips from a shy person who’s had to work a room or two: More

Satin black shirts unbuttoned halfway down are not particularly elegant (for men). More

As devoted BBallers know, we’re into helping our readers out. Some may call this service journalism; I’m not even sure what we do even deserves to be called that. Let’s just call them pointers.

In any case, we’ve written about where to start for planning business dinners for large groups here, but we didn’t begin to scratch the surface on what to do once you get there. More

Bring a wine gift to your business meeting to leave your associate with a lasting impression.

Round, semi-soft, wedgie, logs … so many varieties and shapes, but how do you look like you know what’s up while you indulge in that ubiquitous NYC menu feature — the cheese plate?

I was recently tutored in the proper way to Cheese, and I’m passing along the learnings to you. (”Because livin’ large takes learning large…”) More

There’s something ridiculous about a person who doesn’t know how to drink wine making off like he does. Just forget what all those pourers in Napa told you, and take it from me; I’m not American and I’ve been drinking wine since I was one.

The Swish & The Stem
The point is that you’re supposed to be comfortable drinking wine, as if it’s just any other beverage, like water. The point is not to act as if it’s some kind of special beverage that you need to drink in a special glass and hold in a special way. Hence, I do not believe it in holding-by-stem rule, or the ridiculous amount of swishing going on. More