You have Adam Fleischman to thank for bringing the Japanese word "umami" into the mainstream consciousness. Before he came along and started the popular Umami Burger chain and secured the word as a trademark—something he was allowed to do because the U.S. trademark office didn't realize what the word meant at the time—"umami" floated in the ether, plucked into use every now and again by chefs, cooking shows and food nerds. It's a wonder it took this long for someone to capitalize on the mystical fifth flavor, the very thing distilled artificially in MSG, and naturally occurring in ripe tomatoes, cheese and mushrooms. In English, the word loosely translates to "savory." But if you uttered "umami" to any random person in LA right now, they'd likely associate it with Fleischman's burger, not... More >>>