[Flavor Wars - in which this blog takes a look at a misunderstood or underappreciated taste, and dissects it]     As I sat at Sushi Yasuda today with a lovely friend, a strange smell suddenly enveloped the table. Actually it wasn’t a strange smell at all; it’s the same one one might get a whiff of, say, during a Willie Nelson concert. We looked at each other quizzically, then the waitress. It got us thinking: the sights and smells of Japanese food are often woefully misunderstood. (It was some sort of combo of the roasted green tea we drank, and possibly the seaweed. But the evidence disappeared in a hurry).Take umami. That elusive taste sensation was the word we searched for in vain as we demolished two plates of sushi and sashimi, the highlight of which was uni, or sea urchin roe. Lovers of uni—and I am a recent convert—form a sort of culinary secret society, one in which it wouldn’t be considered gluttonous to order 20 pieces of the stuff. Maybe it’s the limpid, tongue-like texture. Or the kabocha squash orange color. Or the cucumbery, briny, rich flavor that erupts with a bite of the best, freshest examples, which, in this country, come from about 30-90′ of Santa Barbara’s kelp forested seafloor. The LA Times staff writer Russ Parsons put it this way: “Sea urchins look like anything but a delicacy; they are covered with a spiny shell. But inside every urchin are five pieces of roe. Soft almost to the point of trembling, these melt on the tongue, releasing a vivid blast of pure ocean flavor. These are what are prized by sushi lovers.”But umami it is not, Mr. and Ms. Malaprop. Read the rest of this entry »