Results tagged “umami”

We covered miracle fruit here 14 months before the Times did, and were excited to find out that next week, ethnobotanist Nat Bletter will be talking about (and providing samples of) miracle fruit at the monthly meeting of the Experimental Cuisine Collective. The group fashions science as a focal point for their ongoing conversations about food and cooking. Past topics at the free monthly workshops have included ice cream that stretches like rubber and the sense umami. Along with miracle fruit next week, Bletter will also demonstrate the effects of two other taste-altering plants—the enigmatically named sugar destroyer and toothache plant. Perhaps the next annus mirabilis belongs to one of these little guys.

Lots of chefs consider their food to be art, but few artists see their art as food. A new festival called Umami – a Japanese word meaning "savory" or "meaty" – is trying to change all that. The ten day smorgasbord, which started Tuesday, spotlights artists and performers who use food as a medium, and also features culinary events ranging from “water tastings” to a weekend workshop for kids called “Paint With Your Food.” Just what every parent needs!