---
title: "Umami in Pastry: East Meets West"
speaker: "Kenji Nakamura"
duration: "90 minutes"
image: "talks/umami-in-pastry-east-meets-west.jpg"
topics:
  - "Japanese"
  - "French Fusion"
  - "Innovation"
---

Kenji Nakamura challenges the Western assumption that desserts must be purely sweet. In this boundary-pushing session, he reveals how umami — the fifth taste — can add depth, complexity, and surprise to pastry in ways that delight rather than confuse.

## What You'll Learn

**Understanding Umami in Sweet Contexts**
Umami isn't new to desserts — it's in caramel's maillard compounds, in aged cheeses paired with honey, in chocolate's fermented origins. Kenji reframes how we think about savory-sweet intersections, building a vocabulary for intentional umami use in pastry.

**The Japanese Ingredient Palette**
From white miso to toasted nori, from dashi to fermented black beans, Japanese cuisine offers a rich array of umami-forward ingredients. Kenji demonstrates how to introduce these flavors at levels that intrigue rather than overwhelm — the subtle art of restraint.

**Miso Caramel: A Case Study**
Kenji walks through his signature miso caramel, explaining ingredient ratios, cooking temperatures, and the balance point where salinity and umami enhance sweetness. This versatile sauce becomes a gateway to understanding umami integration.

**Matcha Beyond Green**
Ceremonial-grade matcha offers more than color and bitterness. Kenji explores its umami character and demonstrates applications in cream, ganache, and his signature millefeuille — showing how proper matcha use differs from the commodity powder found in most Western applications.

**Fermentation in Desserts**
Drawing on Japanese traditions of fermented foods, Kenji discusses how controlled fermentation can add complexity to pastry components, from amazake-sweetened creams to koji-aged nut pralines.

## Tasting Experience

Participants will taste a progression of Kenji's creations, from subtle umami accents to more pronounced expressions, understanding how different applications affect perception.

## Who Should Attend

Adventurous pastry professionals, chefs interested in cross-cultural fusion, and anyone curious about expanding the flavor possibilities of dessert. Open minds required; open palates will follow.

*"Umami is not about making desserts savory — it is about making them complete."* — Kenji Nakamura