#5 Umami Paste – Who's tried it?

[mskerr]

From Dean & Deluca:

"Rich, deep and intensely savory, umami exists in a number of foods, many of which are blended into this mouthwatering puree of tomato, garlic, anchovy paste, black olives, balsamic vinegar, porcini mushrooms, parmesan cheese, olive oil and just a touch of sugar and salt. Squeeze it into sauces, gravies and risottos to add remarkable depth of flavor. Add it to pastas, soups and stews. Smear it on fish, meat or vegetables. It's pure "deliciousness" in a tube."

I saw this at the store and bought it on a whim. I was pretty skeptical, and figured any mash-up of ingredients promising to add that something special to just about anything (too good to be true!) would be at least a little dodgy and confused. I never tried it straight, but did add it to pasta sauce and bloody mary's and it seemed... dodgy and a bit confused. Weird. I threw it away. I would rather learn to build umami the tried- and - true way.

Surprisingly, it either gets 4 or 5 star reviews online. Then again, anonymous Internet reviewers are usually not too reliable. One of the review titles was "Aphrodisiac?", and he went on to say that at a recent party his sister dabbed some behind her ear, and their cousin started remarking how good she smelled. So there you go.

Any experiences here?

[gfweb]

MSG must be cheaper.

[Pierogi]

MSG must be cheaper.

Oh, God. You opened the MSG door.....let the preaching commence !

[Mjx]

I haven't tried it, and doubt I will. Umami paste seems like a textbook example of some focus group riding the coat-tails of a concept they only understand as an abstraction.

I looked at the ingredient list when I saw the stuff on a shop shelf, and could not wrap my head around why anyone would think having ALL those things in a single dish would be a good idea. I've stood over a pot, thinking 'Needs something...' and reached for mushrooms and an anchovy, or olives and garlic, lots of combinations, but if I'm even considering throwing more than three of these in a pot, I step back and start considering what is lacking at a more fundamental level (often it's 'decided to take a chance on not reducing X, Y, or Z').

[annachan]

I got some several months ago. Not the greatest thing in the world. I like it on toast. A thin layer on the bread, top with cheese and melt in toaster oven. In sauces, it's like an expensive version of vegemite....

[Mjx]

I got some several months ago. Not the greatest thing in the world. I like it on toast. A thin layer on the bread, top with cheese and melt in toaster oven. In sauces, it's like an expensive version of vegemite....

Funny, I was wondering how it would be on bread. Think I'll stick with Marmite, though.

[ElsieD]

I bought some once and all I could taste was anchovies. I threw it out.

[Maison Rustique]

I'd been considering it--thanks for saving me some $$$!!!

[mskerr]

I haven't tried it, and doubt I will. Umami paste seems like a textbook example of some focus group riding the coat-tails of a concept they only understand as an abstraction.

I looked at the ingredient list when I saw the stuff on a shop shelf, and could not wrap my head around why anyone would think having ALL those things in a single dish would be a good idea. I've stood over a pot, thinking 'Needs something...' and reached for mushrooms and an anchovy, or olives and garlic, lots of combinations, but if I'm even considering throwing more than three of these in a pot, I step back and start considering what is lacking at a more fundamental level (often it's 'decided to take a chance on not reducing X, Y, or Z').

That sums it up perfectly!

I was surprised to find out yesterday that the stuff is actually from Italy. It seems to go completely against the Italian simpler- is-better approach and instead goes right for the "keep throwing a bunch of stuff in no matter how confused it gets" approach which is, of course, considered absolute bullocks by serious cooks.

Hmm, it would've never occurred to me to try it on toast. I'm with Mjx- I'll stick with vegemite and marmite.

On another note- Does this remind you of other pastes/ seasonings/etc that suffer from this sort of "just throw a bunch of random sh*t together" approach to seasoning?

And yes, gfweb and Pierogi, I am also starting to look into the whole MSG debate and am finding myself confused and intrigued! I'll have to search for other threads on the topic.

[Kouign Aman]

Yeast extract is cheaper and 'cleaner' tasting but touchy to use in cooking because its so salty (Marmite, Vegemite).

[Mjx]

Yeast extract is cheaper and 'cleaner' tasting but touchy to use in cooking because its so salty (Marmite, Vegemite).

True, but you can compensate for that by holding back on salting the dish you're using it in, until you're done; despite their saltiness, yeast extracts, like the rest of the ingredients in the umami paste, just seem to work work out better when you can use them separately. I guess it's a question of control; the umami paste just doesn't give any, apart form how much paste you squirt in (i.e. you're stuck not only with the full set of ingredients, but their ratios are pre-set).

[&roid]

I bought some once and all I could taste was anchovies. I threw it out.

Me too, exactly this.

MSG must be cheaper.

Much better solution.

[judiu]

Bovril, if you can find it! Yum, and yum again!

[OliverB]

sounds scary. From Italy? They probably just figure it's a good way to get rid of what ever is left over at the end of the year, attach a newfangled "taste" word (I really really do not like the word umami and it's recent use) and sell it to the people bred on TV cooking shows. Ohh, it's umami, must be good then! Saw it on TV! Doesn't umami just mean "yummy" in Japanese? I just refuse to use the word at all cost, used up my yearly contingent in this post :-D

You can probably just use maggi (or soy sauce for that matter) with the same effect, add a drop of fish sauce if you like.

Just like most of those things that are supposed to do everything, it probably does not work well in any application. If your dish needs all this stuff to go places, it probably should be redesigned from the ground up instead.

[tikidoc]

Maggi sauce is cheaper too. Love that stuff.

[judiu]

If anyone from the US has access to a Publix grocery, please try their house brand of soy sauce, to me it's amazing!Strong umami hit, and not overly salty at all. YMMV, naturally!

[nickrey]

There is a whole range of additives put out under the Aromat range by Knorr. Many Europeans that I know use them to give food a flavour boost. Yet when you look at the list of ingredients, good old MSG is right up there. When I've mentioned this to these same cooks, they seem horrified that they are enlivening their dishes with MSG (which, by the way, I don't have much of a problem with).

How many people use these flavour enhancers containing MSG not knowing what they contain?

[Toliver]

How many people use these flavour enhancers containing MSG not knowing what they contain?

There was a previous similar discussion about MSG. Apparently, MSG doesn't have to be called MSG on product labels. A lot of the time it's just called "natural flavoring" or something similar.