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Since the first time I had sushi I was amazed and intrigued by Japanese cuisine.  I am not sure what it was. Was it because it was so clean, so straight forward, or was it the simplicity? I wasn’t sure.

Over time I became obsessed with Japanese cuisine, and learned that there is much more to Japanese cuisine than sushi and sashimi. And the more I learned about it the more I realized that not everything was so traight forward or simple. A relevation of very complex ingredients, like miso, natto, tsukemono well even soy sauce made me rethink my initial theory. What was it that made Japanese cuisine so intriguing? The first light shed when I read a recipe where it mentioned to enhance the flavor of the chicken and the over all flavor of the dish, was to place a chicken breast on kelp for a few hours. Later I learned the true meaning of that practice. Umami. Chicken was alreay high in umami as is kelp, the practice of placing the chicken on the kelp was to extract even more umami into the chicken breast.

Over the years, and it certainly helps to have a japanese sous chef, I learned to understand umami. It is certainly not easy for sombedoy who grew up with five tastes to have explain those who only grew up learning about 4 tastes what umami is. And as long as it took me to not only understand it but also to live it, it will take at least as long to bring it close to my staff.