My wife and I scour every store bought food product. If it has MSG it is not welcome in our home. Now we have another word to look for. Gave my wife migraines. Never more.

What they said!

Earthy flavor…Forest floor. Mushrooms. Aged soy sauces. Miso. Maybe even anchovy paste. Anything that gives a dish depth that you might not be able to identify on the front of the palette.

MSG imparts umami, but, as you listed, so do many other things.

The two are not synonyms.

Look it up. It means “savory,” simply. Some cooks at MSG to achieve Umami, but it’s not the same thing. Where did the quote in boldface come from?

On cooking or cooking adjacent shows, yes, primarily there.

I've also run across it in passing in scientific articles about human genomics and glutamate receptors.

Anchovies, tomatoes, mushrooms, fish stock, and others contain glutamates or other amino acids that have the umami taste.

In very small amounts, fish sauce and sweetened rice wine vinegar wake up the flavor in everything.

Usually about a 1/4 tsp fish sauce and 1 TB seasoned rice wine vinegar in
- spag sauce
- soups
- stews
- salad dressings (some)

You can't taste them in those amounts, but the flavors are much brighter.

some different spices for a change. Fish sauce and sweetened rice wine vinegar are on my list.

Enjoy!

Mushroom, Parmesan Cheese, soy sauce, carmelized onion, Worcestershire sauce,
Those sort of things have umami. MSG does but you can get it from other places.

It does move a little slowly as an emotional drama unfolds for a popular French chef who is somewhat obsessed.
It was in French with no subtitles when I watched It on a flight but I have started eating lots of Chinese noodles since.
Delicious movie.

I’m slow…

Hehe

and my college French has had no practice for decades so I just watched the cooking, drama, and scenery. Talk about slow.

just recently the main actor has been charged with an assault. If true, why is it that promising and gifted figures just can't handle being normal?

Balsamic Vinegar - not the type used for salad dressing, use the thick dark balsamic, great to perk-up the flavor of soups and stews.

And the old kitchen stand-by, worstershire sauce.

In soups and stews too!
Mmmmmmm to both!

although when I looked at the sodium content for the vinegar balsamic I started limiting my use.

but I've been aware of it for a while. I think of it as belonging to things that give food a 'meaty' taste. I don't know what causes it, but I assume some type of protein.

Well browned mushrooms. (I don't get a lot from raw mushrooms. but maybe I don't get the right ones.) Well browned eggplant. Both of these also have a sort of meaty texture, as well as taste, so they make a good meat substitute. For flavor, anchovies and anchovy-based sauces like Worcestershire, soy sauces, and such. Most cheeses. Browned tomato paste or sun-drieds.

Anyway, whatever it is, I like it.