The founder of the national empires Umami Burger and 800 Degrees Pizza shows how to detonate flavor in beloved dishes using ordinary ingredients high in umami
Why does everyone love burgers and pizza? When Adam Fleischman investigated, he discovered what they—and many other ultra-flavorful dishes have in common: umami. A renegade self-taught cook, Fleischman deployed this savory “fifth dimension of taste” to ratchet up flavor using ingredients naturally rich in umami, such as Parmesan, tomatoes, caramelized onions, and anchovy paste. In so doing, he created ultimate versions of icons, including Umami Burger with Port and Stilton, Sweet and Savory Brisket, and Parmesan Fondue. All the recipes are made from the same “umami pantry” ably explicated in the front of the book.
What are Flavor Bombs?
Looking for a great way to save time, money, and food? The answer is Flavor Bombs. They’ll make your meals easier, and much more delicious. But what are they and how do you make them? Cooking with Flavor Bombs gives you the lowdown.
What are Flavor Bombs?
Flavor Bombs are combinations of savory, sautéed aromatics, fresh herbs, or sauce reductions blended together and frozen in ice cube trays, small containers, small bowls, or even just spooned onto a tray lined with wax paper. They are also a great way to reuse plastic containers, such as small sauce containers with lids and egg cartons. Once they’re frozen, you transfer them to an airtight container or resealable freezer bag and they’re ready to add a flavor explosion to your meals.
The ingredients are chopped by hand, in a food processor, or even pounded with a mortar and pestle, depending on how rustic or refined you want your Flavor Bomb blends to be. Fresh ingredients may be preferable but using pre-prepped, chopped vegetables in containers or even frozen vegetables will produce very similar results. The herbs, however, should always be fresh.
Making Flavor Bombs is an excellent way to take advantage of specials in your market’s produce department. Stock up, chop up, and free up time and money! Go that extra mile when you buy that pricey batch of herbs or exotic vegetable, make enough for leftovers, and then make a Bomb out of it.
Components of a Successful Flavor Bomb
A successful flavor bomb includes the five basic tastes: sweetness, sourness, bitterness, saltiness, and umami. Along with the other ingredients in your dish, you may detect these flavors now more than ever since you are creating the background or building block of the dish with Flavor Bombs. By the way, spicy is not a taste, it hits the pain receptors, not the taste buds—so go as spicy as you dare!
Sweetness: Found in “sweet” vegetables, such as onions and carrots, sugars are drawn out when these vegetables are caramelized.
Sourness: Found in vinegar and lemon, sourness brings a brightness to the tongue, which contrasts nicely with rich, savory flavors and can help cut through fattiness.
Bitterness: Different than sourness, bitterness can be considered unpleasant but yet rounds out richness and adds another dimension of taste to dishes. It is found in citrus peel, herbs, and leafy greens.
Saltiness: Identified with foods containing sodium, such as soy sauce, miso paste, and even celery, salt harmonizes and brings out the flavors of foods when used in moderation. It shares some characteristics with umami.
Umami: This Japanese word means “yummy” or “delicious” (and it is). Umami has a meaty, savory taste that is found in miso paste, soy sauce, tomato paste, and dried mushrooms.
From the Publisher
Fettunta from Flavor Bombs
Fettunta is grilled garlicked and oiled bread, the Italian version of the French tartine.
The type of bread you’ll want for your fettunta depends on the toppings. The toppings I have here, a bagna cauda and a raclette, are hearty, so I like to use bread that’s equally sturdy, like a rustic boule. Of course you can use sourdough in a pinch.
In addition to preparing these to order, you can make the fettunta for a party. Instead of assembling each slice of bread individually, prepare a big batch of each topping and set them out on the table, along with the grilled bread. Your guests can pick and choose and build their own fettunta.
Bagna Cauda Fettunta | Serves 4
Bagna cauda is usually translated as 'hot bath,' and it’s a classic dish from the Piedmont region of Italy where anchovies and garlic are bathed in warm olive oil until the flavors meld into a beautiful dip. My version turns it into a topping; with the anchovies and blistered cherry tomatoes, this is a very umami-intense fettunta.
Flavor Bombs are combinations of savory, sautéed aromatics, fresh herbs, or sauce reductions blended together and frozen in ice cube trays, small containers, small bowls, or even just spooned onto a tray lined with wax paper. They are also a great way to reuse plastic containers, such as small sauce containers with lids and egg cartons. Once they’re frozen, you transfer them to an airtight container or resealable freezer bag and they’re ready to add a flavor explosion to your meals.
The ingredients are chopped by hand, in a food processor, or even pounded with a mortar and pestle, depending on how rustic or refined you want your Flavor Bomb blends to be. Fresh ingredients may be preferable but using pre-prepped, chopped vegetables in containers or even frozen vegetables will produce very similar results. The herbs, however, should always be fresh.
Making Flavor Bombs is an excellent way to take advantage of specials in your market’s produce department. Stock up, chop up, and free up time and money! Go that extra mile when you buy that pricey batch of herbs or exotic vegetable, make enough for leftovers, and then make a Bomb out of it.
Components of a Successful Flavor Bomb
A successful flavor bomb includes the five basic tastes: sweetness, sourness, bitterness, saltiness, and umami. Along with the other ingredients in your dish, you may detect these flavors now more than ever since you are creating the background or building block of the dish with Flavor Bombs. By the way, spicy is not a taste, it hits the pain receptors, not the taste buds—so go as spicy as you dare!
Sweetness: Found in “sweet” vegetables, such as onions and carrots, sugars are drawn out when these vegetables are caramelized.
Sourness: Found in vinegar and lemon, sourness brings a brightness to the tongue, which contrasts nicely with rich, savory flavors and can help cut through fattiness.
Bitterness: Different than sourness, bitterness can be considered unpleasant but yet rounds out richness and adds another dimension of taste to dishes. It is found in citrus peel, herbs, and leafy greens.
Saltiness: Identified with foods containing sodium, such as soy sauce, miso paste, and even celery, salt harmonizes and brings out the flavors of foods when used in moderation. It shares some characteristics with umami.
Umami: This Japanese word means “yummy” or “delicious” (and it is). Umami has a meaty, savory taste that is found in miso paste, soy sauce, tomato paste, and dried mushrooms.
From the Publisher
Fettunta from Flavor Bombs
Fettunta is grilled garlicked and oiled bread, the Italian version of the French tartine.
The type of bread you’ll want for your fettunta depends on the toppings. The toppings I have here, a bagna cauda and a raclette, are hearty, so I like to use bread that’s equally sturdy, like a rustic boule. Of course you can use sourdough in a pinch.
In addition to preparing these to order, you can make the fettunta for a party. Instead of assembling each slice of bread individually, prepare a big batch of each topping and set them out on the table, along with the grilled bread. Your guests can pick and choose and build their own fettunta.
Bagna Cauda Fettunta | Serves 4
Bagna cauda is usually translated as 'hot bath,' and it’s a classic dish from the Piedmont region of Italy where anchovies and garlic are bathed in warm olive oil until the flavors meld into a beautiful dip. My version turns it into a topping; with the anchovies and blistered cherry tomatoes, this is a very umami-intense fettunta.
Ingredients :
7 garlic cloves, peeled
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing the bread
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
¼ cup anchovy fillets, rinsed
Freshly ground black pepper
4 slices boule or other hearty loaf
½ cup whole-milk ricotta
1½ cups Blistered Tomatoes (recipe follows)
1. Preheat a grill to high heat.
2. To make the sauce, slice 6 of the garlic cloves paper-thin.
3. Heat the oil and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until they’ve warmed and the butter foams. Add the garlic, anchovy fillets, and a crack of pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Transfer to a food processor or blender and puree.
4. Now, assemble the fettunta. Cut the remaining garlic clove in half. Brush each side of the bread slices with olive oil. Toast the bread on the cool part of your grill or in a skillet set on your stove over medium heat, then rub the halved garlic clove on each side. Place the bread on a cutting board.
5. Spread as much of the bagna cauda on each slice of bread as you’d like, then top each with 2 tablespoons of the ricotta. Pile the blistered tomatoes on top. Serve.
6. If you have leftovers, the remaining bagna cauda can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. It also can be used as a dip for raw vegetables.
Blistered Tomatoes | Makes about ½ cup
Tomatoes naturally have a lot of glutamates and if you blister them to trigger the Maillard reaction, you’ll bring out even more of their natural umami. Using oil from the Garlic Confit is not mandatory, but if you have it, it adds a nice garlicky flavor to the tomatoes. I use cherry tomatoes in this recipe, but the method works using whole tomatoes, too.
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2. Halve the tomatoes and place them in a large ovenproof skillet, preferably cast-iron. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then spoon in enough oil to coat the tomatoes generously. Arrange them in the skillet, cut side down, and roast for 30 to 45 minutes, until their skins shrivel and char slightly and the tomatoes collapse slightly upon themselves.
3. Store the blistered tomatoes in a covered container in the fridge for up to a day.
7 garlic cloves, peeled
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing the bread
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
¼ cup anchovy fillets, rinsed
Freshly ground black pepper
4 slices boule or other hearty loaf
½ cup whole-milk ricotta
1½ cups Blistered Tomatoes (recipe follows)
1. Preheat a grill to high heat.
2. To make the sauce, slice 6 of the garlic cloves paper-thin.
3. Heat the oil and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until they’ve warmed and the butter foams. Add the garlic, anchovy fillets, and a crack of pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Transfer to a food processor or blender and puree.
4. Now, assemble the fettunta. Cut the remaining garlic clove in half. Brush each side of the bread slices with olive oil. Toast the bread on the cool part of your grill or in a skillet set on your stove over medium heat, then rub the halved garlic clove on each side. Place the bread on a cutting board.
5. Spread as much of the bagna cauda on each slice of bread as you’d like, then top each with 2 tablespoons of the ricotta. Pile the blistered tomatoes on top. Serve.
6. If you have leftovers, the remaining bagna cauda can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. It also can be used as a dip for raw vegetables.
Blistered Tomatoes | Makes about ½ cup
Tomatoes naturally have a lot of glutamates and if you blister them to trigger the Maillard reaction, you’ll bring out even more of their natural umami. Using oil from the Garlic Confit is not mandatory, but if you have it, it adds a nice garlicky flavor to the tomatoes. I use cherry tomatoes in this recipe, but the method works using whole tomatoes, too.
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2. Halve the tomatoes and place them in a large ovenproof skillet, preferably cast-iron. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then spoon in enough oil to coat the tomatoes generously. Arrange them in the skillet, cut side down, and roast for 30 to 45 minutes, until their skins shrivel and char slightly and the tomatoes collapse slightly upon themselves.
3. Store the blistered tomatoes in a covered container in the fridge for up to a day.
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