Umami Family Foods

Who's behind it

Umami Family Foods sits in Stella San Giovanni, a village in the province of Savona in Liguria. Behind the brand stands a collaboration between an Italian and a Japanese family. They bring two kitchens together: Italian raw materials from the area and classical Japanese fermentation technique. The goal is to build flavour without tricks. No flavour enhancers, no food colouring, no unnecessary additives. What's on the pot is what's in it.

The name is not marketing. Umami, the fifth basic taste, is exactly what this house seeks: that full, savoury depth that makes a dish whole. The products are made in small series, with raw materials from small producers.

What really makes the difference

The base is black garlic. That's ordinary white garlic that ages for weeks on end at low heat and high humidity. In that time the cloves turn deep black, become soft as tapenade and the flavour shifts from sharp and prickling to sweet, balsamic and savoury. The biting raw garlic taste disappears. What remains is umami.

Umami Family Foods translates that base into products you use directly in the kitchen. The black garlic cream is pure, to finish with. The ketchup and hummus are derivatives with the same dark, sweet-savoury tone. Beyond that is black lemon, half-dried, which gives concentrated, lightly acidic umami.

For you that means depth without work. No days fermenting yourself, no vacuum bag tying up your oven for weeks. You open a pot and immediately have a taste that would otherwise take you a lot of time.

How to set yourself apart

Black garlic doesn't yet sit on every card, and that's exactly the opening. A stroke of cream under a piece of meat or fish gives your dish a savoury base your guests can't immediately place. The ketchup lifts a simple side dish into something of its own: with chips, with a burger, with grilled vegetables. The hummus works as an appetiser or as a base under a vegetable plate.

Black lemon is your surprise. A few flakes over fish, over burrata or through a dressing, and you have acidity and umami in one ingredient. Italian of origin, Japanese of technique. That's the story you tell at table.