Laura Santtini Taste #5 Umami Paste

It has been a while since I posted, 1 week, which in the internet age seems to be four score and a fortnight or some other old timey sounding sounding thing that conjures up images of pocket watches, hourglasses, and sundials. I discovered this paste as an impulse buy at a chef's boutique store my friend suggested to me. Unfortunately, the store was not hip or remotely impressive, Target had a greater selection of useful products. Although they did have a 5 gallon electric turkey fryer, that is impressive I decided I wanted to fry 50 lb of potatoes or 35 lb of chicken wings at one time. The I would consume 50 lb of potatoes and 35 lb of wings...call a medic or a plumber.
Now I know, I am a hypocrite. I told you in my last post to buy cheaper kitchen supplies at a hardware store, well if you can find me a soda machine and a 5 gallon electric turkey fryer at Home Depot please tell me what aisle. Next to plumbing maybe?  I digress, I picked this up because in my ventures as a personal chef I have had to supply many a low fat meal with the requirement that I serve nothing meatless. Which means I am limited to lean cuts of pork, chicken, and lean low activity fish, not known for their super high levels of flavor. There is a reason why nobody hates chicken, it tastes like what ever you cook it with. Consider it meat based tofu. I think there are actual real versions of this. But I have been using as many low fat versions of umami, I can, olives, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, and even beef bones with no meat.
After being asked "May I help you? 8 million times" I bought a book and this, angry but intrigued. Stop bothering me, I know I have been here a while, I am looking, if I was going to steal anything I would not be standing here pacing in the aisles. (nice run-on sentence) Umami is considered another taste, other than sweet, salty,sour, and bitter. It is believed to be the meat flavor, that flavor that makes food feel savory, filling and desirable. I believe its purpose is primal, humans are omnivores, there are certain vitamins and minerals that only come from meat, this taste is one that is craved. Possibly driving us to go and gnaw on that deer over there. Just like sweet is designed to help the young crave food and grow, salty is desirable to make our muscles work, sour is to tell us the food is not ready but it may be at some point, and bitter is "don't eat me I will kill you". Umami is centered around glutamates and has been known about by the Asian community for a while, hence MSG (monosodium glutamate) and the name taken from the Japanese word for delicious.SPEAKING OF MSG...

MSG in a can, with a fancy name, because the lie that was started years ago that MSG is awful for you is still around. You can do the research on your own, use a book not the internet. Cite your sources. Test on Monday. Just do not eat a hand full of it and you will not die, I promise, even though that won't kill you either. This is a taste of umami comparison. Starting with the paste.

Mmmmmm...remember that I do this for you

Ingredients with umami flavor in this paste: tomatoes, anchovies, black olives, balsamic vinegar, porcini mushrooms, and parmesan cheese. This did not look appetizing, as the first part of the squeeze was pure red drippy oil, yum. I held my breath, I closed my eyes, I took a drink (the song reference doesn't really work, but points are earned for getting it right, no using Google). After I picked a scale or a bone or a dehydrated mushroom or a small rock out of my teeth, yes something was in there, I got to the tasting. I could taste every ingredient. No kidding. Tomato first, then mushroom and olives, balsamic sweetness and POW anchovies. I was impressed. It was a not overly salty kick in the face of mouth watering. I wanted to garnish the spoon with parsley and call it dinner. Now for the bad news. Although delicious, it is all flavors from Italy so if you want to add an delicious kick in the groin (is that possible?) to your dinner, it better be a cuisine centered on Mediterranean. I cannot see this adding the right touch to a miso soup and a ceviche. Otherwise, add this to a risotto, ratatouille, tagine, polenta, pasta, or paella. It will heighten it to the next level. I recommend this highly, store it in your freezer cause it will spoil. Moving on...am I really going to do this.

Why am I going to eat this? I think I saw this in a movie, it ended badly

MSG, looks like salt, and I am going to eat this. Throw it back! Done. Not a lot of flavor. It is carte blanche meat flavor. My mouth waters again. A little salt, not much, a slight sour, and then a mouth filling savory coating. I see endless possibilities. Again it looks like the best stuff does come from Asia, except for sausages and beer, Germany and England you win that round. You can simply sprinkle this into anything and it will feel like you have cooked that frisee salad with grapes in pure white truffles, mixed with bacon, veal stock, and lard. (sounds good to me) The meatiness will be unmistakable, just lie to your friends and don't tell them you used this. I added it to vegetable stock and pasta and it tasted like I had used a hearty broth and not stock made from broccoli scraps, which it was. I wonder what happens if I put umami on something naturally full of glutamates? Temporal paradox? If I sprinkle this on a ribeye with truffle butter will I end up in 1955 and have to attend the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance? Just for the chance to drive a Delorean 88 mph I will.
Get both of these, use one for specific cuisines, use the other as an all purpose flavor punch and for a trip to the past, don't take your mother to the dance! Or just add both to that deer you've been teething on, but do it fast he looks angry.