By JULIA MOSKIN

In 1968 a Chinese-American physician wrote a rather lighthearted letter to The New England Journal of Medicine. He had experienced numbness, palpitations and weakness after eating in Chinese restaurants in the United States, and wondered whether the monosodium glutamate used by cooks here (and then rarely used by cooks in China) might be to blame.
MSG, a common flavor enhancer and preservative used since the 1950s, was tagged as a toxin, removed from commercial baby food and generally driven underground by a new movement toward natural, whole foods.
Even now, after virtually all studies since then confirmed that monosodium glutamate in normal concentrations has no effect on the overwhelming majority of people, the ingredient has a stigma that will not go away. But then, neither will MSG.
Cooks around the world have remained dedicated to MSG, even though they may not know it by that name. As hydrolyzed soy protein or autolyzed yeast, it adds flavor to the canned chicken broth and to the packs of onion soup mix used by some home cooks, and to cheese crackers and low-fat yogurts .
It is the taste of Marmite in the United Kingdom, of Golden Mountain sauce in Thailand, of Goya Sazon on the Latin islands of the Caribbean, of Salsa Lizano in Costa Rica and of Kewpie mayonnaise in Japan.
¡°It¡¯s all the same thing: glutamate, said Dr. Nirupa Chaudhari of the University of Miami, who was part of the research team to identify human glutamate receptors.
In September Dr. Chaudhari will take part in the University of Tokyo¡¯s centenary celebrations honoring Professor Kikunae Ikeda¡¯s 1908 discovery of glutamate flavor. The Japanese company Ajinomoto turned that discovery into crystalline powder form, MSG, and patented it in 1909.
¡°Just like salt and sugar, it exists in nature, it tastes good at normal levels, but large amounts at high concentrations taste strange and aren¡¯t that good for you,¡± Dr. Chaudhari said.
¡°I don¡¯t cook with MSG because that¡¯s not my training, but it definitely has its place, said Zak Pelaccio, a New York chef . One of the dishes that made him famous was a sandwich of roasted salmon on pumpernickel bread slathered with wasabi aioli: wasabi from a tube mixed with Kewpie mayonnaise.
In regions where meat and meaty flavors have been out of reach for most cooks, MSG has long filled the gap.
¡°My father called Maggi sauce la segunda venida, the second coming, because he was not a very good cook and it saved him, said Irma Cecilia Sanchez, a home health aide in New York from Puebla, Mexico . Maggi sauce is a 19th-century Swiss creation, a general flavor enhancer now made with MSG, sweeteners and extracts.
Maggi sauce is extremely popular in regions of India, Mexico, the Philippines and the Ivory Coast. One of Thailand¡¯s favorite late-night street foods, pad kee mao, or drunkard¡¯s noodles, relies on its sweet-salty-meaty taste; the Malaysian version is called Maggi goreng.
But it is in Japan that MSG has been most thoroughly integrated into popular food, through two main delivery systems: instant ramen noodle soup and mayonnaise, now popular on pizza, omelets and sushi. Japanese mayonnaise is flavored with MSG and rice vinegar, giving it an addictive roundness and tang.
Although umami is only a small player in Japanese cuisine, reams of breathless prose have been produced here on it, the elusive fifth taste supposedly linked to the profoundly pure, deep-sea flavors of kelp and dried tuna. Umami has been positively identified as the flavor of glutamic acid, an amino acid that is naturally present in many savory foods, from seaweed to soppressata.
¡°Too much MSG and you get that harsh, acrid taste, said Mr. Pelaccio, who uses an empty barrel of Ajinomotobrand MSG he found on the street as a plant stand in his Chinatown apartment. ¡°But get it just right and that dish will sing.

? ?? ??? MSG

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1950???? ?? ???? ???? ??? MSG? ?? ??? ?? ?? ?? ????? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ???? ?? ??? ????.

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??? ??? MSG? ???? ?? ???.

???? ????? ?? ??? ?? ???? ??? ?? ??? ???? ??. ????? ? ????? ????? ????? ??? ???? ?? ??? ???? ???? ??? ? ??, ?? ???? ??? ????? ?? ???? ??.

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9?? ???? ???1908? ???? ??? ??? ??????? ?? ???? 100 ??? ??? ??? ????? ????. ?? ?? ?????? ??? ??? ?? ??? MSG? ??? 1909?? ??? ??.

??? ???? ??? ???? ??? ?? ????? ?? ??? ???? ??? ??? ??? ?? ?? ??? ?? ????? ???? ??? ???.

??? ???? ? ????? ?? ??? ???? ??? ??? ? ?? ??? MSG?? ??? ????? ???. ?? ???? ? ??? ??? ??? ????? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ?????? ??? ? ????? ?? ????? ?? ??.

??? ?? ?? ??? ??? ???? ?? ??? MSG? ? ?? ????. ???? ???? ???? ???? ?? ?? ???? ??? ?? ??? ???? ???? ?? ???? ?? ??? ????? ????? ????. ??? ? ?? ??? ??? ?????? ?? ??? 19?? ????? ???? ??? ??? MSG, ???? ???? ??? ???? ????. ?? ??? ??, ???, ???? ???? ??? ????? ?? ?? ??? ??. ?????? ???? ?? ?? ????? ?? ??? ??? ??? ????? ???? ?? ?? ? ??? ?? ??? ?? ??? ?? ?? ??. ???????? ?? ???? ???.

??? MSG? ?? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ????. ?? ???? ??? ??? ??, ???? ??? ?? ??? ????? ?????MSG? ? ??? ?? ?? ??? ????? ? ?? ?? ?? ???? ?? ??.

?? ???? ???? ? ??? ???? ??? ? ?? ?? ??? ??? ??? ???? ? ??? ???? ?? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?? ??? ? ??. ? ?? ???? ??????? ??? ??? ??? ???? ?? ????? ?????? ??? ????.

MSG? ?? ?? ??? ??? ?? ?? ??? ? ??? ?? ??? ??? ?? ???? ??? ?? ? ????? ??? MSG ?? ?????? ?? ????? ?? ???? ?? ?? ????? ???.

monosodium glutamate??????? ¡¶?? ??? MSG¡·
flavor enhancer ?????¡¶monosodium glutamate? ??¡·
hydrolyzed ?????
autolyzed ?? ???
chicken broth ???
mix (??? ?? ??? ??) ??, ???? ??, ????
low-fat ????
glutamate ??????(????)
receptors ???, ????, ???
crystalline ????, ???, ????
pumpernickel ?? ???? ?? ?? ?? ?? ???, ?? ??? ???? ?? ???.
Aioli ???? ¡¶??¡¤???¡¤????¡¤?? ??? ?? ??¡·
the second coming ????? ??
umami (???) ? ??? ??? ?
fifth taste ??? ?? ????? ??? ?? ¡¤?? ¡¤?? ¡¤??? ? ??? ???? ??? ??? ???? ???, ?? ??, ??? ???? ??? ??? ?? ?? ?? ????? ?? ???.