Msg

I heard that MSG was fermented molasses. Anyone know if that’s true. I don’t know if I believe it.

http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/msg.html

Originally, Asian cooks added seaweed to many foods while cooking because they found it enhanced the natural flavors of meat and vegetables. In 19C Japan (IIRC), they found the substance responsible and started to extract it from seaweed. Today, it’s fermented from other materials as Attrayant says.

Some people have a hang up because of the long, scary sounding chemical name. The Chinese just call it “flavor essence” or something like that.

The Japanese word ajinomoto translates to “essence of flavour”. Ajinomoto Co Inc is also the name of the worlds largest producer of free glutamate, something over 500,000MT per annum