umami | ideas that taste good

Becoming remarkable defies common sense

March 23, 2014 by antdina

You stand at the entrance of a large painting gallery. The ceiling floats 3 stories above your head. The warm lighting rakes across textured fabric that papers the wall. Hundreds of people press against a railing that gives distance from just one picture. It stands alone, a single wall shielded by bullet-proof glass and watched by uniformed guards. Even though the image is only the size of a postage stamp from where you stand, you recognize the most famous painting in […]

Categories: Meaning • Tags: da Vinci, deviled eggs, eggs, filet mignon, Mona Lisa, steak, Sullivan's, truffle, umami

Fight back the winter wind with crunch and chew

December 8, 2013 by antdina

Jack Frost is a bastard. He sends gusts around buildings to infiltrates even the thickest down. And God forbid if any skin is exposed. It is here that the icy knife of winter penetrates through to the bone. The season of Sun has gone to sleep. The stomach cries for the rich and the savory. Research tells us that we prepare for cold with an increased calorie consumption. Makes sense. Store energy like a chipmunk. Except that our belts bulge […]

Categories: Food Finds • Tags: brain in our gut, chipolte cream, cold, crispy, crispy foods, crunch, food, Harvard, jalapeno, John S. Allen, linguini, mango, Nova, nueroanthropologist, oysters, potato chips, Syrah, The Grove, umami, wind, winter, Zelo

Pandora’s kitchen

November 24, 2013 by antdina

In 2005, Tim Westergren introduced the online world to the music genome project. Little known then, this ad-subsidized radio station would play music in tune with your mood and taste. Simply key in a single song or single artist into to field and the next thing you might say is “Wow. I did not know I liked Boy George. Or Celine Dion. Who knew?” The emotional power behind this work lies in careful analytics. Hundreds of thousands of songs are decomposed into […]

Categories: Pioneer • Tags: foie gras, Kandisnky, kitchen, music genome project, Pandora, Pandora radio, Pizza, Second, umami

An everyday thanksgiving

September 22, 2013 by antdina

Jeff and Trudy came into our lives as teachers for our two boys. They brought the love of lacrosse and the love math to our children. They also brought values of fellowship and discipline. They breathed life into the example of “bringing up children.” You know, the metaphorical image of physically lifting dead weight. What it costs them is dear. To open their hearts wide and without self concern. So when the children graduate, there are tears. A strange mix […]

Categories: Tribute • Tags: celebration, food, pasta, steak, umami, wine

Pickles aren’t just for pregnancy

July 14, 2013 by antdina

Vincent grew up eating hot dogs with applesauce. Most people shudder at the thought. The purists demand mustard but realize that ketchup is how most American children take their wieners. How is it that little Vinnie mixed the favorite condiment for pork chops with a beefy link? The reality is that his mother was cooling the temperature of Vincent’s lunch by instructing him to put applesauce right on the steaming hot dog. And now as a man, it’s a pairing […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: Austin, cheese, Denver, glutamic acid, Linger, mozzarella, muscles, pickle, umami, Umami Mia, Vincent

Casey strikes out at the (breakfast) plate

July 7, 2013 by antdina

In 1888, The Examiner immortalized the emotional roller coaster of baseball through Earnest Lawrence Thayer’s poem. We swelter in the stands while our hero, Casey Jones eyes three pitches only to fail to crack his bat on any of them. Casey discounts the first two balls as unworthy of his time. And with the third, the fury of the swing does not meet its target. Casey strikes out. Sometimes our kitchen heroes make us feel like that day in Mudville. […]

Categories: Design, Food Finds • Tags: baseball, bitter, Casey, duck confit, ears, evolutionary biology, eyes, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, piquancy, psychology, pungency, Roy H. Williams, salt, salty, sour, sweet, The Examiner, umami

Italy in my pocket

March 12, 2012 by antdina

A long table of Italian vintners settle into conversation at San Francisco’s own A16 Restaurant. They come to witness where their bottles are uncorked nightly. The come to meet the owners face to face. They come taste Southern Italy on their palates. Nearby, colleagues look over butcher paper covered table tops. Some are native to SF and others traveled here. Tonight we soak in Italy. We are pulled by a gravitational force from a busy kitchen where carbohydrates flow like lava. The wine list […]

Categories: Food Finds • Tags: celebration, cuisine, dining, food, Italian, meat, pasta, Pizza, San Francisco, umami, vintners, wine

All dressed up…

January 23, 2012 by antdina

Behind the magic of a well prepared salad lies the hidden thread of dressing. From simple oil and vinegar to complex concoctions with exotic ingredients, this cold sauce turns garden harvest into a dish. The origin of dressing might be associated to the Mediterranean where olive oil was lathered onto anything even stuff that did not make it past lips. Romans bathed in oil, scraping dirt off along with the oil. Oil also played it’s part in signifying the important in the […]

Categories: The Taste Lab • Tags: bitter, Cuisinart, dressing, greens, salad, salty, sour, sweet, umami

ideas that taste good

storytelling through food

Tag: umami