Umami

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While in the Portland Japanese Garden in Oregon today, Jim and I ate at a small restaurant called Umami.

I always have found the Japanese word “umami” fascinating. It has no exact translation into English, although “savory” comes very close. It refers to one of the five basic tastes the human tongue can detect — sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and savory.

Jim and I avoided sour and bitter today. But we did indulge in the other three for a light afternoon meal after touring the Japanese Gardens.

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Published by Robert Craig Waters

Robert Craig Waters is a Florida writer. After leaving journalism in the early 1980s, he worked as an attorney, communications director, and public spokesman for the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee for 35 years. He grew up on a family farm in Beulah, Florida, not far from the Alabama border, before attending Brown University in the 1970s. His mother's family traces its roots to Weaverville, North Carolina. His father's family is from the small village of Burnt Corn, Alabama, where Mr. Waters spent part of his childhood.

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