The foodspring 20: 17-18

17. Taste No. 5: Umami Paste Reaches the Market

Everyone remembers learning about the four taste buds in grade-school science class, but much of our learning has been debunked (turns out the tip of your tongue recognizes more than just sweets), and our palates have become more complex than ever. Enter the fifth taste: umami, the sensation of savory. The term comes from the Japanese word for flavor or taste, but the product that claims to bottle this sensation comprises primarily Western ingredients. London-based restaurateur Laura Santtini developed the paste, which contains tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, Porcini mushrooms, salted anchovies, black olives and balsamic vinegar, all of which purportedly embody umami inherently. Whether spread on a sandwich, garnishing a soup or “flavor bombing” a stir-fry, pasta or rice dish, Taste No. 5 is a ground-breaking culinary aid that is sure to become a spice rack staple.

Photo courtesy of Waitrose

 

18. Eataly Opens

August brought the long-anticipated opening of Eataly, a sprawling 50,000-square-foot Italian food emporium in Manhattan’s Flat Iron neighborhood. This multimillion-dollar venture’s opening signaled a fresh revival of the U.S.’s favorite cuisine—and it goes way beyond pasta sauces. In addition to a vast array of imported Italian-brand groceries, the space features several restaurants, including Italian steakhouse Manzo, a Neapolitan pizzeria and a rooftop beer garden. This outpost of Italy’s Turin-based store even squeezed in a cooking school, called simply La Scuola. With celeb chefs Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich and founder Oscar Farinetti steering the ship, Eataly is poised to claim a permanent stake in New York’s food scene.

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Eva Meszaros is the associate editor of foodspring.com
 and author of foodspring’s food for thought blog.

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