MSG, what's it for anyway?

Akin to peanuts on airplanes, MSG has an air of danger about it. Menus everywhere proclaim MSG free!, no MSG used, we never use MSG!!! Ah, but almost all cooks once did, and some still do, and for good reason.

Monosodium glutamate is a naturally occurring form of glutamic acid, an amino acid, that is extracted from certain grains and vegetables. It is long known for enhancing asian dishes. Experts agree that MSG adds a particular zing to many foods. But how this works is probably still a mystery.

The MSG people claim that MSG replaces the glutamates in food that are lost during storage, processing, and cooking. However, it also enhances food like chicken which have no natural glutamates to lose during cooking. In light of this, other 'experts' believe MSG joins with other chemicals and magnifies them. MSG works well with meat, poultry, fish and vetetables, but not with other foods such as sweet, acidic or salty. In addition, some say the MSG brings about a fifth taste to the human palate adding to the well known quartet of sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Japanese have favored MSG since they isolated it from sea vegetables early in this century. They call it 'unami".
In China, MSG is known as wei ching or wei chen meaning 'essence of taste'.

Now, many chefs recommend that this spice be used sparingly if at all. Too much of it makes all the flavors in a dish taste the same. It also has a high sodium content and creates an unpleasant allergy reaction in some people.

A prudent chef relies on the colorful flavors of the food itself.