Spice Life

Memoirs of Growing up in the Spice Industry Guest: Caitlin PenzeyMoog, author, "On Spice: Advice, Wisdom, and History with a Grain of Saltiness" Caitlin PenzeyMoog grew up surrounded by spices in her family business. She gives an insider's perspective: Why does pepper make you sneeze? What kind of cinnamon is the most potent? How different are salts from around the world? Why is vanillin so inferior? The 5th Basic Taste Guest: Gary Beauchamp, Distinguished Member, Emeritus Director and President, Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA  Umami, the mysterious fifth basic flavor, wasn’t discovered until the early 1900s. After umami’s discovery and synthesis, it got added to everything from Chinese food to cheese. Now it’s being needlessly taken out of food products everywhere. But why?