Msg

A white crystalline powder, MSG is an industrial product developed as a flavor enhancer at the end of the nineteenth century. It gives a taste of meatiness, umami, to dishes. It replaces long-simmered bone broths and mushroom broths. Its use has been associated with various long-term illnesses, and in addition many people have a reaction to it, getting a headache or becoming dizzy when, for example, they eat a soup that has been heavily flavored with MSG. Many cooks in Burma still use it, for they have limited access to meat, and they believe that MSG gives their food a better, deeper flavor. Whenever I have said that I don’t use it, Burmese cooks suggest that I compensate by increasing the amount of fish sauce. This is not because MSG is salty, but in order to replace its umami-flavor-giving properties (see “Umami”).