At Maison DEHESA, flavours are worked in the plural; umami, for its part, remains singular. It is born of harmony, when no flavour dominates and all merge into a fullness that makes the mouth water.
Time, the first ingredient
Japan was the first to name it, at the beginning of the twentieth century. Umami forms through slow transformations: maturation, drying, fermentation, smoking. All our methods stem from them.
Garum, umami in its pure state
Made from tuna in the ancient tradition, our garum concentrates umami into a few drops. It can stand in for katsuobushi, for a sauce, or for salt itself. Its story is told in “All about garum”.
The Japanese-style smoked sardine
Selected for their XXL size at the port of Santoña, our sardines are smoked over beechwood as soon as they leave the boat. The smoke stays clean, never heavy; it carries the umami without crushing it.
In the chefs’ kitchens
At Le Gabriel, in La Réserve Paris, Jérôme Banctel smoked a monkfish, then left it to rest on the bone for seven days before pairing it with roasted asparagus and our smoked sardine. “Neither dominates the other. The whole gives a distinctive taste”: this is how he defines umami. Read the recipe
