It's hard to avoid boxes of sushi at every supermarket. But some is better than others and some boxes don't have quite the assortment you want.

To compose your own from scratch, Annandale Seafood Market, 7123 Columbia Pike, Annandale, 703 642 8549, has the necessary special cuts of very fresh fish, as well as finished sushi in party quantities if you order ahead.

If you make your own, you may want ikura, the bright orange shum salmon roe. 10th & M Seafoods will mail it by the pound from Alaska. Call 800 770 2722. Daruma, a Japanese supermarket at 6931 Arlington Road, Bethesda, 301 654 8832, sells it, along with fresh tuna and fresh octopus ready for sushi preparation, but equally excellent for tuna carpaccio or grilling. It also stocks the nori sheets, rice, vinegars and flavorings you'll need, along with take-out sushi. Their cafe serves traditional Japanese foods.

Oriental supermarkets, like Lotte, 11790 Parklawn Dr, Rockville, 301 881 3355, and H Mart, 8103 Lee Hwy, Merrifield, 703 573 6300, and their branch in Wheaton on Georgia Ave, sell whole fresh fish, squid, molluscs and shellfish extremely cheaply. They will fillet your picks. They also sells nori sheets.

Serious sushi devotees might want to attempt the Wednesday night sushi-eating challenge at Momo Taro Sushi, Midway Shopping Center, 1605 Frederick Rd, Rockville. Call 301 963 6868 to reserve the 40-piece assortment. When that is finished, contestants eat as many pieces of nigiri as they can. The winner gets the bill paid.

Graham Bartlett is executive chef of Zengo, where you can find almost everything from ceviche to sushi. He caught the “food bug” while traveling with his parents in Mexico. But Paris, not the States nor Latin America was where he went to learn the culinary arts.