...which was actually harder than you'd think. Apparently my local Wal-Mart doesn't stock it. Asked someone about it, apparently they're moving towards "No MSG" goods. At least they haven't started stocking organic crap. I don't want manure-covered fruit sitting next to my nice healthy irradiated apple. (No, that's not sarcasm. My love affair with irradiated foods will take another post.)
Finally found a regional grocery store with a "flavour enhancer," which is code for MSG, for those who have never wanted to look for it. (Specifically Accent, which is the American brand for the Japanese company which originally patented the stuff.)
I tried it; I tried it plain (as I do with all new-to-me spices) off the tip of my finger, I tried it in vegetable soup, and I tried it in some stir-fry I made.
You know what? MSG tastes like -shit-.
I guess I should have predicted this. Raw meat tastes bad to me, as do mushrooms, as does most cheese, as does eggplant, as does, as does, as does - I, apparently, do not like umami. I don't like lobster or most shellfish (I'll take artificial crab over the real thing any day of the week), I despise tomatoes. Bacon is only good to me when heavily flavoured with something else, say, maple syrup.
In short, all the foods which are held up as examples of the "umami" taste, taste bad. I just don't like it.
Which isn't to say anybody is wrong about how delicious eggplant parmigiana supposedly is. But I do realize why I don't like it, now.
Sigh. So much for that. I had -really- been looking forward to it, too, on recommendation from several people. It's added, along with fennel and anise, to the list of spices I will never ever put in anything I cook.
On to find a real bottle of mustard oil. I bought a bottle to use in my stir-fry (as opposed to my standard, sesame seed oil, which is rather expensive), and as I started to open it, realized I had bought massage oil. I doubt this damages its edibility any, but I'm still reluctant to use a foodstuff explicitly labeled "Not for consumption."
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