For those outside of the know, 'Umami' is the fifth 'core taste' - the other four being sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Translating from Japanese as 'essense of deliciousness', you can think of Umami as 'savouriness' - that mouth-watering taste that is so important to much of the food we eat. It's a large component of the flavour of meat, but it is also the 'meaty' unctious flavour that we get from mushrooms, tomatoes, Parmesan, Miso, or soy sauce, for example. This Vegan 'Umami Powder' from Jimoto is derived from shitake mushrooms with no added MSG. It could be thought of as an alternative to salt - perfectly poised to enhance almost anything - pasta dishes, pizzas, roasted vegetables, as a rub for meats, in sauces, salad dressings - the only limit of the list is your imagination.