My father embodies the boundless spirit of an American cook. Despite his Ukrainian Jewish heritage, his culinary skills span a diverse range of dishes, from veal cutlets with anchovy-caper sauce to beef and broccoli stir-fries and ginger-infused apple pie. He honed his craft through self-teaching, immersing himself in cookbooks and newspaper clippings.
One of our cherished family meals was “pearl pork balls,” named after the glistening sticky rice coating formed during steaming. He adapted the recipe from Mrs. Ma’s Chinese Cookbook, replacing beef with ground pork and leek, omitting mashed potatoes, and substituting ginger juice with minced ginger and adding vinegar to the soy sauce, sugar, and salt seasoning.
He retained one crucial ingredient often overlooked in modern American cooking: monosodium glutamate (MSG). Once a staple seasoning, MSG fell from grace due to unfounded health concerns.
MSG’s journey began with Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda, who identified glutamic acid—naturally present in seaweed, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and meat—as the source of savory umami flavor. In 1909, Ikeda launched Ajinomoto, an MSG-producing company, which gained popularity in the U.S. until skepticism surrounding food additives emerged in the 1960s.
A 1968 letter in The New England Journal of Medicine describing a “strange syndrome” after eating at Chinese restaurants, fueled misconceptions about MSG’s health effects. This led to a 1969 Senate hearing that cemented MSG’s controversial status. Chinese restaurants, unfairly targeted despite MSG’s Japanese origin, displayed “NO MSG” signs to avoid scrutiny.
For over 25 years, respected food authorities have worked to rehabilitate MSG’s reputation. Jeffrey Steingarten’s 1999 Vogue essay debunked health myths surrounding the seasoning. Esteemed publications like The New York Times, The New Yorker, Smithsonian Magazine, and countless others followed suit, alongside FiveThirtyEight’s analysis, “How MSG Got a Bad Rap: Flawed Science and Xenophobia.”
Renowned chefs like David Chang and Heston Blumenthal championed MSG, dismissing the fear-mongering as an “old wives’ tale.” Despite this, pure MSG remains absent from most American pantries, even though it’s consumed in processed foods like Doritos and Campbell’s soup. The FDA estimates the average American consumes 13 grams of glutamate daily from protein and 0.55 grams of added MSG.
MSG was once a household staple. In 1929, the Atlantic City Sunday Press touted it as “Salt That Tastes Like Meat.” By 1948, articles predicted MSG would join salt and pepper as a kitchen essential. Companies like Ac’cent, Spice Islands, and General Mills launched their own MSG products. Articles praised its ability to make flavors “sing,” envisioning it as the “third shaker.”
Early MSG recipes appeared in publications like American Cattle Producer in 1931. By the late 1940s, newspapers featured MSG in dishes like pork chop casserole and pollo con tocino. Cookbooks, including Myra Waldo’s 1958 1001 Ways to Please a Husband, incorporated MSG into recipes. Even President Eisenhower’s beef stew recipe included it.
Misinformation about MSG infiltrated cooking culture, labeling it as “optional,” “controversial,” or even unsafe. The stigma persists, deterring many Americans from using MSG.
Calvin Eng, a 2022 Food and Wine Best New Chef, recalls MSG being taboo in his childhood. Now a staunch advocate, he uses MSG in both savory and sweet dishes at his restaurant Bonnie’s in Brooklyn, including their popular MSG Martini. He emphasizes using it judiciously to avoid bitterness.
Despite the negative campaign, MSG recipes quietly persisted in cookbooks like the 1975 New York Times Weekend Cookbook and the 2005 Food Network Favorites. Today, Food And Wine Magazines offer MSG recipes, encouraging home cooks to rediscover the “magic ingredient” and its umami potential in salad dressings, barbecue, roasts, and pasta sauces. As Eng puts it, MSG is part of the “Chinese trinity: salt, sugar, MSG.” It can be the missing piece in a recipe, enhancing and elevating other flavors.
Used correctly, MSG undeniably enhances food, making it irresistibly delicious.
