Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Umami Abroad: Taste, Authenticity, and the Global Urban Network

  • Chapter
The Globalization of Asian Cuisines

Abstract

From February 9 to 11 in 2009, “Tokyo Taste: The World Summit of Gastronomy 2009” was held at Tokyo International Forum. Many celebrated top chefs from around the world were invited to this event to discuss, demonstrate, and share their skills and knowledge, with participants coming from eight countries, including Japan, France, Spain, and the United States.1 US-based Japanese chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa (“Nobu”) was one of those invited to this event, along with other globally famous celebrity chefs such as French chef Joël Robuchon and Spanish chef Ferran Adrià. Nobu has been recognized as having made an impact on haute cuisine all over the world. He was introduced to the audience as a leading figure in drawing American and other international attention to Japanese food and contributing to the eventual spread of Japanese cuisine around the world. Nobu met up and created networks with the other leading celebrity chefs at the forum. They interacted and discussed the trends of the culinary world to explore beyond the cuisines in which they had been trained and currently practiced. Intriguingly, Nobu was invited as a representative of North American cuisine.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Bestor, Theodore C. 2005. “How Sushi Went Global.” In The Cultural Politics of Food and Eating: A Reader, edited by Watson and Caldwell, 13–20. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bloomberg. 2013. “Why Tokyo Has More Michelin Stars Than Paris.” Bloomberg TV. May 15, 2013. Accessed January 3, 2015. http://www.bloomberg.com/video/why-tokyo-has-more-michelin-stars-than-paris-OLWLXKQ8TRKkrrJlxerM6A.html.

  • Castells, Manuel. 2000 [1996]. The Rise of the Network Society. 2nd edition. London: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang, David. “Interview with Best New Chef David Chang.” Food & Wine, n.d. Accessed January 3, 2015. http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/interview-david-chang.

  • Cook, Ian, et al. 2006. “Geographies of Food: Following.” Progress in Human Geography vol. 30, no. 5: 655–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook, Ian, et al. 2008. “Geographies of Food: Mixing.” Progress in Human Geography vol. 32, no. 6: 821–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook, Ian, Philip Crang, and Mark Thorpe. 2000. “Regions to Be Cheerful: Culinary Authenticity and its Geography.” In Cultural Turns/Geographical Turns: Perspectives on Cultural Geography, edited by I. Cook, D. Crouchi, S. Naylor, and J. Ryan, 109–39. Harlow: Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cresswell, Tim. 2009. “Place.” In International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, vol. 8, edited by R. Kitchin and N. Thrift, 169–77. Oxford: Elsevier.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Douglas, Mary. 1984. “Standard Social Uses of Food: Introduction.” In Food in the Social Order: Studies of Food and Festivities in Three American Communities, edited by Mary Douglas, 1–39. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ducker, John. 2011. “Teaching Wine Tasting.” In Educated Tastes: Food, Drink, and Connoisseur Culture, edited by Jeremy Strong, 105–20. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, Anthony, and John Urry. 2010. Mobile Lives. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fitzgerald, Gerard J., and Gabriella M. Petrick. 2008. “In Good Taste: Rethinking American History with Our Palates.” Journal of American History 95.2 (September): 392–404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleming, Amy. 2013. “Umami: Why the Fifth Taste Is So Important.” The Guardian, April 9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gabaccia, Donna R. 1998. We Are What We Eat: Ethnic Food and the Making of Americans. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haden, Roger. 2011. “Lionizing Taste: Toward an Ecology of Contemporary Connoisseurship.” In Educated Tastes: Food, Drink, and Connoisseur Culture, edited by Jeremy Strong, 237–90. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heldke, Lisa. 2003. Exotic Appetites: Ruminations of a Food Adventurer. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Imai, Shoko. 2010. “Nobu and After: Westernized Japanese Food and Globalization.” In Globalization, Food and Social Identities in the Asia Pacifc Region, edited by J. Farrer. Tokyo: Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture. Accessed January 2, 2015. http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/global%20food%20papers/pdf/3_4_IMAI.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inglis, David, and Debra Gimlin. 2009. The Globalization of Food. New York: Berg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Issenberg, Sasha. 2007. The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy. New York: Gotham.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, Josée, and Shyon Baumann. 2010. Foodies: Democracy and Distinction in the Gourmet Foodscape. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korsmeyer, Carolyn. 1999. Making Sense of Taste: Food and Philosophy. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, Jane. 2013. “The Umami Project.” The New Yorker, January 21: 20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ku, Robert Ji-Song. 2014. Dubious Gastronomy: The Cultural Politics of Eating Asian in the USA. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumakura, Isao. 2013b. Presentation for Ajinomoto Forum, March 10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latour, Bruno. 2007. Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leschziner, Vanina. 2010. “Cooking Logics: Cognition and Refexivity in the Culinary Field.” In Globalization, Food and Social Identities in the Asia Pacifc Region, edited by J. Farrer. Tokyo: Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture. Accessed March 10, 2014. http://icc.fa.sophia.ac.jp/global%20food%20papers/pdf/3_1_LESCHZINER.pdf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comparative Culture. Accessed March 10, 2014. http://icc.fa.sophia.ac.jp/global%20food%20papers/pdf/3_1_LESCHZINER.pdf.

  • Murata, Yoshihiro. 2012. Salad: 120 Contemporary Interpretations. Tokyo: Shibata Shoten.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murdoch, Jon. 2008. Post-Structuralist Geography: A Guide to Relational Space. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • NHK Enterprises, Inc. 2008. Ambition: The Story of Kikunae Ikeda, Chemist.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nobu Restaurants. Accessed January 3, 2015. http://www.noburestaurants.com.

  • Pollan, Michael. 2007. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. New York: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ray, Krishnendu. 2007. “Ethnic Succession and the New American Restaurant Cuisine.” In The Restaurants Book: Ethnographies of Where to Eat, edited by David Beriss and David Sutton, 97–114. Oxford: Berg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sand, Jordan. 2005. “A Short History of MSG: Good Science, Bad Science and Taste Cultures.” Gastronomica vol. 5, no. 4 (November): 38–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sassen, Saskia. 1991. The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo. Princeton: Princeton UP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solt, George. 2014. The Untold History of Ramen: How Political Crisis in Japan Spawned a Global Food Craze. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Strong, Jeremy, ed. 2011. Educated Tastes: Food, Drink, and Connoisseur Culture. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki, Toshio. 2012. Interview by author, July 23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Svejenova, Silviya, Carmelo Mazza, and Marcel Planellas. 2007. “Cooking up Change in Haute Cuisine: Ferran Adrià as an Institutional Entrepreneur.” Journal of Organizational Behavior vol. 28, no. 5 (2007): 539–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takaki, Ronald. 1989. Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tokyo Taste: The World Summit of Gastronomy 2012. Accessed January 3, 2015. http://www.tokyotaste.net/.

  • Ton, Andrew. 2013. “A Beginner’s Guide to Ramen.” Bon Appétit, the Takeaway, January 23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wakiya. Accessed January 3, 2015. http://www.wakiya.co.jp/chef/.

  • Waterman, Tim. 2011. “The Flavor of the Place: Eating and Drinking in Payottenland.” In Educated Tastes: Food, Drink, and Connoisseur Culture, edited by Jeremy Strong, 58–81. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Webster, Renée. 2013. “The Smell of Vegemite explained.” The Guardian Life & Style Australian Food Blog, July 1. Accessed January 30, 2015. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/australia-food-blog/2013/jul/01/vegemite-smell-of-explained?INTCMP=SRCH.

Download references

Authors
  1. Shoko Imai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

James Farrer

Copyright information

© 2015 James Farrer

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Imai, S. (2015). Umami Abroad: Taste, Authenticity, and the Global Urban Network. In: Farrer, J. (eds) The Globalization of Asian Cuisines. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137514080_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation