Alexandre Bourdas

It would not be truthful for me to declare that I am always thinking of umami whenever I am creating a new dish. However, I am aware of the foods that contain umami, and I do like it very much. Even when I am not thinking specifically about umami, I use many umami-rich ingredients in my cooking. I also take advantage of the synergies between umami and other tastes.

My first conscious experience of umami was when I sampled some powdered dashi with a Japanese friend, who told me about the name of this taste. My immediate reaction was, “ This is amazing! I want more!” It was not the first time that I had tried Japanese dashi, but it seemed much better than anything I remembered. Consequently the impact of that experience became the basis of my thinking about umami.