Globalization of umami and Japanese food culture

Japanese soups stock 'dashi’ and umami characterize Japanese food culture. In recent years, many foreign chefs are learning basics of Japanese cuisine. They are surprised by the presence of dashi which is quite different from soup stock in Western country. Since 1990’s, Japanese chefs have been actively participating gastronomic conferences held in Europe and US, and information on the unique techniques and ingredients of Japanese cuisine spread overseas. For Japanese people, soy bean is common material for making soy sauce and miso, but overseas, chefs started using various ingredients other than soy beans to make original fermented foods that are rich in umami taste. In addition to authentic Japanese cuisine, variety of fermented foods and cooking techniques based on the Japanese cuisine have been introduced by foreigners. This phenomenon should be one of styles in globalization of Japanese cuisine.