(L+CR) Shokugeki no Souma (Food Wars) S2: "The 2nd Plate"

[GDB]

Originally Posted by ninjastarforcex

if umami is universally accepted as real and basic common taste, why isnt that word taught at school during like, basic biology? or is it?

Same reason they don't teach you how to cook in biology. Or really, why they never teach you anything else about taste and flavor in a biology class.

Originally Posted by thundrakkon

Personally, if I eat a dish with too much MSG, it creates dehydration and other issues at the base of my skull.

Same, but migraines. But those could also be from the nitrates that are also found in every single massively over-MSG dish.

[HayashiTakara]

Originally Posted by ninjastarforcex

if umami is universally accepted as real and basic common taste, why isnt that word taught at school during like, basic biology? or is it?


wait, umami IS msg? im not food expert but since i was little, people always tell me it's bad for you health

The scientist who created MSG created the word Umami to market MSG. What greater marketing ploy then to trick people into adding deliciousness into their cooking?

[RDNexus]

OK, it's official. It's useless. Better agree to disagree.

[GDB]

Originally Posted by HayashiTakara

The scientist who created MSG created the word Umami to market MSG. What greater marketing ploy then to trick people into adding deliciousness into their cooking?

How does that, in any way, discredit it as a word? Regardless of its origins or how you feel about said origins, it IS a word with a meaning that does not automatically necessitate MSG. There's no reason to continue fighting against it, as it isn't going to change.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by HayashiTakara

The scientist who created MSG created the word Umami to market MSG. What greater marketing ploy then to trick people into adding deliciousness into their cooking?

And from beyond the grave he conned countless scientists into going along with him. Including those who identified the actual taste receptors for glutamates. You're veering into tinfoil hattery.

[HayashiTakara]

Originally Posted by GDB

How does that, in any way, discredit it as a word? Regardless of its origins or how you feel about said origins, it IS a word with a meaning that does not automatically necessitate MSG. There's no reason to continue fighting against it, as it isn't going to change.

it's a stupid word, that's all I'm saying, it's like saying the blueness of that blue is fantastic!

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

And from beyond the grave he conned countless scientists into going along with him. Including those who identified the actual taste receptors for glutamates. You're veering into tinfoil hattery.

Not him but food corporations seeking to facilitate billions off of the word. Doesn't change that its fake, a handful of people who claims to be able to have these special taste buds are full of shit.

[ninjastarforcex]

Originally Posted by GDB

Same reason they don't teach you how to cook in biology. Or really, why they never teach you anything else about taste and flavor in a biology class.



Same, but migraines. But those could also be from the nitrates that are also found in every single massively over-MSG dish.

eh, i think every school teach students something like this

its seems Umami is century years old actually not new-word and accepted as legit english word and even considered one of basic taste (according to you guys), but never seen this at all. Umami seems unreal to me.

[RDNexus]

But it doesn't change the fact that it exists, has a degree of explanation and reasoning and isn't being misused in this story, only pushed to heightened levels to make the plot seem more amazing and to give some meaning to the fanservice scenes.

[Proto]

Originally Posted by ninjastarforcex

eh, i think every school teach students something like this

its seems Umami is century years old actually not new-word and accepted as legit english word and even considered one of basic taste (according to you guys), but never seen this at all. Umami seems unreal to me.

BTW the so-called tongue map (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongue_map) is a myth and common misconception. All tastes and related taste buds exist in all regions of the tongue, although it is true that they are distributed at different densities (although not at the ones implied by those tongue maps).

Not him but food corporations seeking to facilitate billions off of the word. Doesn't change that its fake, a handful of people who claims to be able to have these special taste buds are full of shit.

The scientific name is glutamate flavoring, and the specific receptors that respond to this flavor in the human body have been definitely mapped (mainly cells expressing the TAS1R1+3 proteins). It is not rare at all either.

[Guardian Enzo]

What a silly argument. As reluctant as I am to wade into it, it's not even a dispute - umami is a word. It's a word in English, based on a word in Japanese. As a word it's acknowledged by linguists. As a scientific concept it's now acknowledged as one of the basic tastes along with sweet, salty, bitter and sour. You can't argue that a word doesn't exist in English just because it's rooted in another language. The entire language wouldn't exist if you used that standard.

Ignorance of something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Umami is a thing - an English word and a scientific concept - whether a specific person is aware of that or not.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by HayashiTakara

it's a stupid word, that's all I'm saying, it's like saying the blueness of that blue is fantastic!



Not him but food corporations seeking to facilitate billions off of the word. Doesn't change that its fake, a handful of people who claims to be able to have these special taste buds are full of shit.

Are you confusing it with supertasters, maybe? Most people can taste umami. That's the point of using MSG as an additive.

And let's say, for the sake of the argument, that "umami" is a pretentious name. It doesn't change the fact that glutamates exist, and so do their taste receptors.

Whether people like it or not, and in what quantity, is up to personal preference, but umami is a basic taste. That's not really up for debate.

[DarkJak2050]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

It's different. Kurokiba was there to cook. He cooked.

The judges were there to declare a winner. They didn't declare a winner.

You missed the point with my post. I was referring to the attitude Kurokiba tends to throw around and the lack of respect towards others; that clip of Hell's Kitchen was an example of what would happen if he did that towards someone like Gordon Ramsay if he was on Hell's Kitchen.

Oh sure he can cook, but with that attitude, it can only get him so far. At one point, chefs/cooks will have to work together and back each other up in the Kitchen. And with that attitude and lack of respect Kurokiba have, those he should be working with will (eventually) turn their backs towards him and leave him hanging out to dry in crucial moments.

Anyway, I haven't watched Episode 8 yet, but from what's going on here, it ought to be interesting.

[Gan_HOPE326]

Originally Posted by DarkJak2050

You missed the point with my post. I was referring to the attitude Kurokiba tends to throw around and the lack of respect towards others; that clip of Hell's Kitchen was an example of what would happen if he did that towards someone like Gordon Ramsay if he was on Hell's Kitchen.

Well, one might argue... maybe Kurokiba IS Gordon Ramsay. After all it isn't like Ramsay is famous for his good character . He still somehow managed to get where he is - probably mostly on raw talent.

[ccesarano]

To those complaining about use of the word Umami: are you also complaining about people discussing aspects of flavor and cooking that you never once saw or needed to know looking at basic recipes off the Internet or out of a cookbook?

While it's not a realistic show about cooking, it is a show about cooking. Common folks needing to know the word "umami" is akin to me expecting everyone to know what a Document Object Model element is. Somethings are only relevant to a profession. Perhaps the nature of "umami" being a foreign word makes it seem silly, but at least it's a real word as opposed to, say, "muggles", a term that sounded more and more silly the more the Harry Potter books expected me to take them seriously. At least here it's 1) a story that doesn't take itself too seriously, and 2) is a foreign work that is thus influenced by a foreign culture and ideas.

Which leads me to another thing: whether you, as an American, have come across the term or not is irrelevant. This is a Japanese show. It's going to have a Japanese perspective and have Japanese lingo. This isn't like that "keikaku = plan", either. We could replace "umami" with "savoriness" or "glutamatability" or whatever the fuck, but it is highly unlikely to interpret the line as accurately. In a lot of cases "umami" is used as a noun, and we don't have a proper word for that.

Is it a marketing term that happened to become accepted among culinary academics? Irrelevant. The word exists, the word is used, and the word fills the need required within the story.

Get the Hell over it already.

---

As for the episode, I'm gonna go out on a limb and offend manga readers by saying the half-cour limitation of the season is doing this one a favor in pacing. I know a lot of folks feel it is rushed, but shonen anime tend to just fuckin' drag (no, it's not a phenomenon unique to DBZ as much as everyone loves to whip that particular boy). This season is moving at a good pace.

Beyond that, though, more of my concerns about this becoming like other shonen stories are being assuaged. While it still adheres to tropes, seeing that Soma is actively making up for his weakness by seeking an alternate strategy rather than just training really really hard until he magically is better at choosing ingredients is great. He acknowledges he is lacking in something, tries to learn a new method, and is now going to compete in his own special way. It allows him to be just as much a specialized and limited character as the others, while maintaining their relevancy through specialization.

I do hope he loses, though. Which might sound strange, but seeing as there's no ridiculous consequence like having to leave the school or give up his chosen profession, now is the time to remind us he's not the Messiah of Gastronomy and that he can fail, too. And considering that failure as a learning experience is a major theme, it would work as a character moment (especially as his father said he cannot lose anymore. Soma needs to feel loss in order for his inevitable victory at the story's conclusion to feel properly earned).

We'll see what happens.

[Kafriel]

As for the episode, I'm gonna go out on a limb and offend manga readers by saying the half-cour limitation of the season is doing this one a favor in pacing.

I would have disagreed, had I not watched the latest episode. However, since Souma's brainstorming got some light shed on and a lot of stuff was fit in this week's episode, I'd say I'm satisfied with the way things turned out.

I do hope he loses, though. Which might sound strange, but seeing as there's no ridiculous consequence like having to leave the school or give up his chosen profession, now is the time to remind us he's not the Messiah of Gastronomy and that he can fail, too. And considering that failure as a learning experience is a major theme, it would work as a character moment (especially as his father said he cannot lose anymore. Soma needs to feel loss in order for his inevitable victory at the story's conclusion to feel properly earned).

IMO he has lost enough already by being second place and tying...and I'm really salty about people losing tournaments, Souma must have revenge on their behalf!! Not to mention, this is just the Autumn election and Souma is a Tootsuki freshman, he'll have plenty of fights later on too (at least ten, counting the elite seats).

[Rokumonsen]

Hooray for Ryoko fanservice.

Leonora is pure LOL. No wonder Alice is such a good troll.

Souma going against the norm again. This match is very exciting.

[wingdarkness]

Looking back this might be a favorite episode (8)...It was cool to see Soma humbled...For the first time the atmosphere of the show was inverted. He visibly worked his way through frustration.

We basically always see Soma as the character with the special ability. The intangible factor that lends to how he combines his diner-style approach in different high-level dish situations...Seeing him finally come back down to the group and rely on what he learned from his dorm was dope.

His opponents may have natural abilities that surpass him. The ep hammers that home, just as Soma accepts it...Now it looks like he's psychologically flipped it with the his sand-covered fish dish, lol...

The atmosphere of the fish-market to start the ep was nice...Hell even the umami debate was fun...When you're arguing like this, it was an ep we won't soon forget...

[Stark700]

Episode 9:

Another intense episode. The triple threat match between Ryou, Akira, and Souma had highlights from all three guys although I think Akira's dish stood out the most so far.

Then again, we can't count out Souma yet right? Oh and I thought the moment when Alice's mother began to speak unbroken Japanese was priceless. Guess we'll have to see how the judges react to Souma's seconds. This episode really made me hungry for some seafood..

[GDB]

I'm so glad they kept the Tsubame Gaeshi joke.

[Chaos2Frozen]

That was the PERFECT moment to cliffhanger