msg

[flashpig]

I was talking to a friend of mine and he was saying that MSG makes all food taste delicious. Where can I buy some?

[ursula62]

Chinese grocery stores, or in the spice cabinet in a large supermarket.

[Susan123]

No No No!!! This is a food additive that can cause lots of health problems. Research it on line and when you have read all the terrible side effects that it can cause you can decide if you still want to use it.

Please for the sake of your health, don't use it!!!

[nickmo]

As a flavour enhancer - not an ingredient - it is in so much we eat you really do not want to have more of it. Have a look at http://www.organicfood.co.uk/stories/msg.html for one aspect.

Use sea salt to improve flavour, not MSG. MSG occurs naturally as a component of food, so don't add more.

[jno]

certainly seems to have done a lot of good for your friend's brainpower. Get yourself some down at the MSG shop.

[jerseyjane69]

think your friend is on a wind up,, it is the stuff they put in food to make you bloat up,,,, they use it in our local chinese "all you can eat" offers so you can't eat much,,,,,,,,, and it tastes crap,, or that might just be our local chinese!

[LordyGeordie]

Your friend was right in some respects. MSG is a used as a flavour enhancer and can make certain foods taste better with its addition.

The flavour it gives is called 'umami' and was only discovered a few years ago. You may have been taught that there were four tastes - sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Well this is the fifth. There's some information on it here. http://www.glutamate.org/media/discovery_of_glutamate.asp

Thereis a body of thought that it is bad for you, but there again it is commonly used in japanese cooking and they have one of the longest life expectancies in the world. i think the key is use it sparingly, after all other flavour enhancers such as salt and sugar can have bad side efffects if used to exccess.

You can buy pure MSG at oriental supermarkets, but like salt and sugar it does occur naturally in some foods. many old english recipes use umami flavourings without knowing it. for example oysters aded to steak and kidney pie provide the umami taste, similarly worcester sauce which is made from distilled anchovies and is often added to casseroles etc. provides umami.

in oriental cuisine umami ocurs naturally in fish suace and seaweed amongst other things

[Busker]

According to my cookery book: "Substance derived from a vegetable protein which emphasises natural food flavours without adding any flavour, colour or aroma of it`s own. Sold under various trade names, however one type `Aromat` is so widely distributed that the name is frequently used in recipes". I have been using Aromat for many years and it is widely available around 90p. a tub.