Ajinomoto Co., Inc and the UMAMI Information Center supports “ Japanese Food Culture Seminar” at the Maison de la Culture du Japon a Paris
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| Participants | MCJP | Mr. Okui |
Promotion of better understanding of Japanese Food
Growing popularity of Japanese food has brought an increasing number of genuine and quasi-Japanese restaurants, not only in Paris but also in many major European cities. But what makes the difference between authentic Japanese food and the others?
With a view to promoting better understanding of Japanese food, The Maison de la Culture du Japon a Paris (MCJP) has begun organising a series of seminars on the culinary art of Japan, often providing workshops using the unique basic ingredients of Japanese cookery.
On 23rd September 2006, in front of amateur enthusiasts of Japanese food in Paris, Mr Takashi Okui, President of Okui Kaiseido Company (established in1804) talked about the long history and rich world of one of the fundamental and unique food ingredients, Konbu. This is a type of seaweed belonging to the kelp family and is one of the key ingredients to make good taste, called Umami in a variety of dishes.
"If wine is the key to understanding French culture, I would say
that to understand Japanese culture you must know your Dashi" said
Mr Okui.
But whats is "Dashi"? Dashi is a type of clear broth (bouillon)
made from particular ingredients. With this magic portion of Dashi
broth, often invisible in the final dish, Japanese people have developed
and
elaborated the world of its rich and delicate cuisine. Dashi is used
as the base of soups, sauces and dressings for countless numbers of
Japanese dishes.
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| Bouillon with Konbu & Tofu |
Konbu-Dashi | Dried Konbu |
In 1908, Professor K Ikeda identified the source of the delicious taste of Konbu as glutamic acid. It is present in a wide variety of natural produce, such as tomato, cheese, beef, etc. and is particularly favoured by the Japanese cooking world. The taste is now internationally recognised as "Umami", the fifth taste (the other four being sweetness, bitterness, sourness and saltiness).
And in the following year Ajinomoto began commercially manufacturing in the name of "Aji-no-moto", literally meaning "the essence of taste".
The Globalisation of "Umami" to the World
As Japanese cookery and some of their well-known dishes have become extremely popular in Europe as well as the rest of the world, traditional Japanese products such as Wasabi spice, Shiitake mushrooms and green tea are widely accepted today.
Even in a country like France where culinary art and tradition
are famous, some highly respected and star-awarded restaurants are
beginning to understand
the
use of Konbu and the value of Umami.
Umami sits in the heart of Japanese cookery but it can also be easily
adopted by international cookery. It may not be too long before we are
pleasantly
surprised by finding European taste of Umami.
Paris, October 2006 – AJINOMOTO EUROPE S.A.S.
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