Along with the release of her book Easy Tasty Italian in the United States, Laura Santtini has also released a few items from her Easy Tasty Magic product line. We were most intrigued by her Taste No. 5 Umami Paste, a concentrated blend of tomato paste, garlic, porcini mushrooms, and, well, every umami-rich ingredient out there!
I started off just trying a little of the paste straight up. Amazingly, I could clearly distinguish many of the main components without even looking at the ingredient list - tangy tomato paste, fishiness from the anchovies, a lactic creaminess from the parmesan, and a pungent kick of garlic. It tastes strong, but nicely balanced.
Then I tried it in three different preparations: scrambled eggs, a bean stew, and in a grilled cheese sandwich. My favorite was actually the grilled cheese sandwich! I just rubbed a little of the paste onto the bread before I made the grilled cheese, and it added a really nice gourmet kick to an otherwise plain grilled cheese. In the stew, the paste melted into the background (which is what good umami flavors should do in a stew, really). The paste received "meh?" from me in the eggs. It was nice but not something I'd do every day.
In the end, I feel a little divided about this paste. For most dishes, I don't think it really accomplishes more savory impact than a scoop of tomato paste and a handful of parmesan cheese can do. But I really enjoyed it in preparations where the flavor of the paste itself was the star ingredient. Besides grilled cheese, this paste would be great as a bruschetta topping, stirred into mayo, dabbed on a sandwich or hamburger, or whisked into a vinaigrette.
I also think this would be a great all-purpose ingredient for a beginning cook. I could see giving this as a gift with the instruction "Just add a tablespoon to everything! Trust me!"
I wish this paste were vegetarian or came in an anchovy-free variety. It can be challenging to get that true umami depth in many vegetarian dishes (again, especially if you're new to cooking), and a paste like this would be a real help.
Has anyone else tried this paste? What do you think about it?
• Find It! Laura Santtini's Taste No. 5 Umami Paste, $18.50 for a pack of 4 from Amazon.
Related: Umami Entertaining: Best Appetizers from Mark Bittman
(Image: Emma Christensen)
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It sounds like a great ingredient to have lying around when you need to whip up something fast and I too wish it were vegetarian. But the photograph and the packaging does not do this product any favors not to mention the name.
I thought this sounded like a good idea at first, and heck, it probably tastes great. But the more I think about it, it feels like cheating. Isn't what we love about that mysterious, intriguing umami flavor the inherence of that flavor in the ingredient itself? Does that make sense? Interesting product idea, anyways :)
I saw this at a local store. I kinda agree with sunandtea. Good cooks get that flavor in their food without the help of a paste. Ha, this is cheat paste!
To be honest though, next time I see it I might grab it and give it a try.
I really wish it were salt-free. I'm always trying to find ways to enhance flavor without adding salt. If she ever comes up with a salt-free alternative, I'll definitely try it!
It sounds like it would be great dabbed on top of hard boiled eggs.
A few drops of SE Asian fish sauce will do much the same job WAAAAAY cheaper. It's phenomenal in tomato sauces.
Sorry, I should have prefaced that - if you can't get your hands on this OR can't justify the expense...didn't mean to sound so negative. I know that my budget can deal much better with a $3 bottle of nuoc mam from the Asian market, is all.