Umami in "World of Flavors 2010" - Umami Information Center

Umami in “World of Flavors 2010”

Widely recognized as North America's most influential professional forum on world
cuisines and flavor trends, the World of Flavors in Culinary Institute of America (CIA)
Greystone, CA, now in its 13th year, focused on a single country, Japan.

Date and venue: From November 4th through 6th, 2010 at Culinary Institute of America
(Greystone, CA, USA)

Theme: “JAPAN:FLAVORS OF CULTURE～From Sushi and Soba to Kaiseki : A Global
Celebration of Tradition, Art, and Exchange”

Presenters: 94 chefs and food industry experts from Japan, EU, Peru and other countries
Participants: 700 chefs, food industry experts and restaurant owners mainly from US.

Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is one of the most well-known organizations in the
culinary world. The main campus at Hydepark, NY, USA was founded in 1942. Greystone is
the first branch campus in the heart of Napa Valley, one of the most famous wine-producing
areas in the U.S. The second branch is in San Antonio, TX, USA. They opened the third
branch in Singapore in 2010.

Over the course of three days, about 90 chefs and industry experts delivered presentations
on cooking styles ranging from kaiseki ryori (Japanese haute cuisine) to casual foods such
as ramen and soba, and covered topics as diverse as the umami taste, health issues, and
cultural exchange between Japan, Europe and the Americas. While Japanese chefs playing
in the front line globally shared their creations, American chefs trained in Japan created their
original dishes adopting the Japanese culinary concept. Many chefs introduced dashi and
umami which are the heart of Japanese cuisine in their sessions and workshops. The
Umami Information Center is grateful for the partnership of Yoshihiro Murata of Kikunoi
(Japan), Kyle Connaughton, former head chef of the experimental kitchen of The Fat Duck
(UK) and Harold McGee Ph.D., who enabled to carry out the seminar “Building Umami with
the Japanese Market Basket“ . In addition, thanks for Ajinomoto Co., Inc. which supported it
overall.

Building Umami with the Japanese Market Basket
November 4th, 2010
Participants: 93 chefs, restaurant owners, food industry experts

There were two objectives in the seminar. To introduce the concept of dashi and umami and to
propose new dashi using not only Japanese basic ingredients such as kombu, katsuo bushi
and dried shiitake mushrooms for dashi, but also those available in USA.
Ms. Kumiko Ninomiya, director of the Umami Information Center was MC in this seminar.

                         =Umami Presentation and Tasting Plate

Yoshihiro Murata proposed his new concept of dashi; rich in umami and with almost zero
calorie.Based on his dashi concept, Murata presented dashi brewed from dried tomato,
dried morel and chicken breast. Chef Murata utilized synergism of glutamate in dried
tomato’s, with guanylate in dried morel mushrooms’ and inosinate in chicken breast.
He served two tasting plates where his dashi played very important role; salty egg custard
(chawan mushi) and boiled spinach seasoned with dashi.

              =Harold McGee Ph.D.           =Chef Murata and Connaughton
                           (photo: courtesy of Kyle Connaughton)

Chef Connaughton presented his inventive dashi; Pressure Cooked and Ice Filtered
Chicken Dashi Clear Broth and “Osumashi” with dried Tomatoes, Yuba, and Udo. This was
his homage to Heston Blumenthal, his master and owner chef of The Fat Duck, and to
Yoshihiro Murata. The ”Pressure Cooked and Iced Filtered Chicken Dashi Clear Broth”
consisted on using a pressure cooker to extract the umami from chicken, onion, ginger, negi
scallion, dried tomatoes and kombu. Then he ice filtered for three days. With this procedure
fat and gelatin were excluded with a final very clear and umami-rich dashi, as described by
Chef Murata. His invention saves the effort of heating and cleaning of scum, fats and oils.
For the UIC article of Harold McGee, please go to
http://www.umamiinfo.com/the_news/news/lecture_by_dr._harold_mcgee/

For the UIC Heston’s article, please go to
http://www.umamiinfo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=201&Itemid=90

For the UIC Murata’s article, please go to
http://www.umamiinfo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=182&Itemid=90

       =Chef Connaughton and his dish (recipe photo: courtesy of Kyle Connaughton)

  On the next day’s kitchen workshop, Chef Murata presented chicken rolled with cured
ham.
He was inspired by Tai kobujime whereby the sea bream fillets are covered in salt and then
sandwiched between sheets of kombu in order to enhance the sea bream’s inosinate whilst
imbuing the fish with the distinctive flavor and aroma of kombu. Not worrying about the origin
of constituents, the Chef replaced Japanese ingredients with Western foods. This innovative
experiment gives us clues on how to produce an umami dish with a ample view on cooking.
In the meantime, Connaughton introduced “Osumashi” (clear soup) with dried Tomatoes,
Yuba, and Udo using his ice-filtered dashi. It reminded participants of a double consommé
soup, which had strong umami.

Moreover, other distinguished chefs such as Kiyomi Mikuni, Kunio Tokuoka, Yoshihiro
Takahashi, Hideki Shimoguchi, Toshiro Konishi, Hiro Sone, Hiroko Shimbo, David Kinch,
David Chang, Douglas Keane and Nicolas Balla presented their umami and dashi cuisines.
Hiroko Shimbo, chef and culinary coordinator based in NY, who was (the) other presentator
in this event remarked;" During the conference, chefs from Tokyo and Kyoto worked
together very well and presented the Japanese cuisine as united, not divided."
Also Chef Ramsey remarks, "In some ways, this was only possible because the event was
held in the U.S. You'd never see this collection of talent together in Japan. All of the chefs
loosened up and gelled together. "