Changing eating habits toward a plant-forward diet focusing on umami: Lessons from the Japanese cuisine

Changes in eating behavior toward a more plant-forward and sustainable diet may be enhanced by preparing vegetables with tastes, especially umami, which humans crave but plants generally lack due to fundamental plant biology. The traditional Japanese food cultures have over millennia developed ways to umamify vegetables in meals with little or no meat. This reflection paper explores how elements of traditional Japanese food cultures may facilitate a green dietary transition by promoting the use of umami-rich seasonings and condiments to umamify plant foods, increase their palatability, minimize food waste, and hence support sustainability. By enhancing umami and flavor attributes (koku), Japanese culinary practices demonstrate how dishes with little or no meat still can provide satisfying and flavorful meals. Preliminary results are presented from case studies of translating Japanese knowledge of umami into a Danish context involving chefs, restaurants, the educational system, and the general public.