"msg" news and stories

MSG has long been a contentious ingredient. It is often vilified, as a lot of people believe that they are allergic to the stuff. Recently, though, MSG has had its reputation partially restored as it is thought to be a source of Umami, the much-heralded fifth taste.

A new study has raised the possibility that MSG might once again losing its good standing. A group of scientists have recently finished a study linking MSG to higher body weight. They found that "high MSG consumption was associated with a 110 per cent increase in the risk" of having a high body mass index (BMI).

Industry groups immediately responded, essentially saying "no way Jose." The Glutamate Association said that on top of flaws in the study, areas of the world that already consume large amounts of MSG do not have high BMI numbers (which would indicate they were overweight). What do you think about the new findings?

MSG is in more foods than you might think. But it's not the devil.

More on Frank Bruni's favorite new non-NYC restaurants.

Memories of Caribbean jerk chicken with pineapple (with recipes).

One-pot shrimp curry recipe.

How to cook an octopus. Hint: very slowly.

A quick lesson in pancetta.

Source

Okay, perhaps this is not a typical first food memory, but it's one of my favorites. I've been watching the box set of Freaks and Geeks and during one of the episodes, the "geeks" dare each other to drink a disgusting combination of ingredients (salt, sardines, pickle juice...) for money. O how the memories came flooding back.

When my brother and I were in elementary school, we used to do the exact. same. thing. We used to stand at the refrigerator and goad each other into drinking conconctions we created. Our rules were that you could only use three ingredients (to cut down on disgust-osity) and we could only pick items from the fridge.

Just like on the TV show, pickle juice was a favorite starter liquid.

Thinking back on it, the experience was actually very helpful. It taught us about flavor combinations, and we certainly drank enough MSG-laced brine to learn about umami at an early age. In fact, both my brother and I went on to have food-related jobs. Bro was a line cook at restaurants in San Francisco and Germany. I dabbled in catering and now write about food. Maybe it all started with a little kimchi juice-mayo-grape jam cocktail.

Anyone else do this?

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a flavor enhancer that has been used in a wide variety of food products over the years. It is a sodium salt of glutamic acid, an amino acid. Resembling salt or sugar in appearance when it is isolated from a food, MSG does not have a distinctly recognizable taste. It triggers the taste buds newly classified as being sensitive to "umami", a savory taste and loanword borrowed from Japanese.

Chefs, even before giving a name to umami, have been using ingredients with a naturally high glutamate content to enhance the flavor of dishes. It is found in large quantities in ingredients such as tomatoes, mushrooms, corn, parmesan cheese and soy sauce, in addition to occuring in meats, like beef and chicken. It is the perception of MSG as a food additive - rather than as a naturally occurring flavoring - that has given it a bad name.