Comprehensive Study Guide for Umami by Laia Jufresa
The Architectural and Gastronomic Framing of Privada Campanario
The Privada Campanario is a residential complex in the Cuauht moc delegacin of Mexico City, designed by the retired anthropologist Alfonso Semitiel (Alf). Its name originates from the 1985 earthquake, during which a large bronze bell fell from the roof of his grandparents' mansion and became buried in what is now the central walkway. The complex consists of five houses named after the five tastes recognizable by the human tongue: Casa Amargo (Bitter), Casa cido (Sour), Casa Dulce (Sweet), Casa Salado (Salty), and Casa Umami. The facades were intended to be painted a jacaranda purple, but due to a shipping error, they are a color Marina calls "moradicomio" (a portmanteau of purple and madhouse).
The layout of the private reflects a map of the tongue, a detail inspired by the 1974 research of Dr. Semitiel. The central walkway, or pasillo distribuidor, reflects the sensory specter of the taste buds. Residents must physically step over the handle of the buried bell to enter the premises. The atmosphere of the private is characterized by a shared history of loss and a specific urban ecology, where the surrounding neighborhood of Cuauht moc and the city center suffer from significant environmental pollution, including reported levels of up to of lead per kilogram of soil.
Ana’s Milpa Project and the Ecology of the Urban Patio
In 2004, thirteen-year-old Ana (nicknamed Agatha Christie by Alf) negotiates a deal with her parents, Victor and Linda Walker, to avoid summer camp in Michigan. In exchange for staying home, she undertakes the conversion of their colorless concrete patio into a "milpa-jardn." The project is based on the indigenous agricultural practice of the "Three Sisters": corn (maz), beans (frijol), and squash (calabaza). Ana explains the symbiotic relationship of these crops: corn provides the structure for the beans to climb, while the beans fix nitrogen back into the soil to replace what the corn consumes. As the beans reach one-third of the height of the corn, the squash is planted to provide ground cover, retaining moisture and suppressing weeds.
Ana's project is complicated by the soil quality of the Cuauht moc district. A greenhouse vendor informs her that the local earth is contaminated with lead, necessitating the purchase of two sacks of "good" soil to ensure the safety of the crops. This urban agriculture project serves as a distraction from the family's grief over the death of Luz, the youngest sister, who drowned in Michigan in 2001. The patio, once a place for an aluminum picnic table that no longer folds, becomes a site of "Quality Time," a phrase used by Victor to coax Linda out of her mourning-induced solitude. Ana also plans to plant "heirloom" tomatoes, focusing on deformed or purple varieties, which she identifies as a form of "genetic archaeology" of flavor.
Alfonso Semitiel and the Anthropological Study of Umami
Dr. Alfonso Semitiel is a widowed anthropologist who dedicated forty years to the study of amaranth (), a crop he refers to as the "sacred grain" of the Aztecs. He notes that the name originates from the Greek , meaning "flower that does not wither." Historically, the Spanish colonizers prohibited the cultivation of amaranth (huautli) because of its ritual significance; the Aztecs used amaranth flour mixed with blood to mold figures of deities, which they then consumed in a ritual the Spanish viewed as a heretical parody of the Eucharist. Consequently, the Spanish destroyed kilometers of crops, effectively erasing the grain from the national agricultural memory in favor of corn.
Alfonso is also credited with introducing the concept of "umami" into Mexican gastronomic discourse. Umami, the fifth flavor, was first identified by the Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda in 1908. It is associated with the presence of glutamates, found in foods like Parmesan cheese, anchovies, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Semitiel describes it as a "savory," "meaty," or "brothy" sensation that triggers salivation in the center of the tongue and promotes satiety. His dissertation focused on the relationship between this fifth taste and pre-Hispanic cuisine, arguing that umami is the "cement" of flavor that makes carbohydrates like pasta or corn satisfying. He lives in Casa Umami, which he shares with "the girls," two hyper-realistic "reborn" dolls.
Grief and the "Reborn" Doll Phenomenon
Following the death of his wife, cardiologist Noelia Vargas Vargas, in November 2001, Alfonso adopted two "reborn" dolls named Kenny and G (Yi). These dolls are hyper-realistic artifacts designed to simulate the weight, skin texture, and appearance of human infants, used primarily by parents who have suffered loss or infertility. G is equitable with a "breather" (brida) mechanism, a battery-powered device inside the doll's chest that moves rhythmically to simulate respiration. This requires periodic battery changes, which Alfonso performs with recrossed rechargeable batteries to minimize environmental impact.
Noelia herself had coined the term "hijitud" (daughter-hood) to describe the state of being an adult who chooses not to have children, remaining forever a "daughter only" (hija nom s). She theorized that staying in a state of "hijitud" prevented full psychological maturation, though she enjoyed the freedom it granted, such as the ability to fly to any destination on a whim. The dolls were purchased in Stratford-upon-Avon from a specialist "reborner" named Marissa (or Melissa) during what the couple called their "Year of Reproduction," an attempt to conceive late in life that ultimately failed. For Alfonso, caring for the dolls is a ritualized preservation of Noelia’s presence and a rejection of the cold fact of her death from pancreatic cancer.
Marina’s Chromophilia and the Struggle for Mental Stability
Marina Mendoza is a twenty-year-old design student who moved to Casa Amargo from Xalapa, Veracruz, to escape a dysfunctional family environment and her father's Italian restaurant, Pisa. Marina suffers from an eating disorder and mental health crises that lead to periodic hospitalizations for "brain washing" and electrolyte IV treatments involving sodium, potassium, chlorine, bicarbonate, dextrose, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium. She views the world through a lens of invented colors, creating portmanteaus to describe specific emotional or atmospheric states.
Notable colors in Marina's lexicon include:
- Blansible: A "white of possibilities" (blanco de lo posible) associated with the sunlight hitting a clean wall in a new home.
- Blanfil: A cold, medicinal white associated with the calming effect of the drug Tafil.
- Moradicomio: The oppressive purple of the private's exterior, reminiscent of hospital gowns.
- Rosanto: The deep pink of the amaranth flower.
- N ctrico: The electric, artificial glow of the city at night.
Marina's recovery is aided by her neighbor Linda Walker, who provides English lessons. Marina interprets the English language as a "marker drawing" (dibujo en plumn) that simplifies the world, whereas Spanish is a nuanced "watercolor" (pastel o l piz de color). Her recovery and identity are further complicated by an encounter with Chela, Pina’s long-absent mother, who appears at her window during a hailstorm. Marina ultimately advises Chela not to contact her daughter, arguing that the emotional damage of her disappearance is irreversible, a decision she later struggles with.
The Legacy of Luz and the Dynamics of Family Loss
The death of Luz Walker at age five serves as the emotional epicenter of the Privada Campanario. Distraught by her drowning in a Michigan lake, her mother Linda carries the grief as a "dirty river" (ro sucio) that brings trash to their doorstep every summer. Linda maintains various "Protestant" neuroses regarding punctuality and work ethic as coping mechanisms, often making a specific wrist gesture to signify this ethical rigor. The family lives between two languages, using English for media and letters to their American grandmother, Emma, but speaking Spanish at home to avoid feeling like expatriates.
Luz’s perspective, captured in the year 2001, reveals a child's understanding of the world as a place of "camouflage" (camuflash). She viewed her grandmother’s environmental filtration system for greywater (guas negras versus guas blancas) through the use of gravel and stones as a magical process. The mythological "Emperor Umami," who supposedly lives at the bottom of the lake and grants wishes to brave girls, becomes a central image of her innocence. Her death in 2001 is noted to have occurred near the anniversary of the altitude city's falso verano (false summer) rains.
Questions & Discussion
Does Pina know what the letter from her mother said? Ana notes that for years, they speculated that the letter Chela left when she disappeared in 2000 contained a dark secret, a suicide note, or a divine vocation. However, Pina eventually reveals to Ana that the letter contained only one simple, devastating sentence: "Pina, I only ask that you finish high school" (Pina, slo te pido que acabes la prepa).
What happened to the bell? Dr. Semitiel explains that the bell was buried by its own weight in 1985. It remains a physical part of the architecture, its handle protruding from the ground. Residents have developed a muscle memory of skipping over it, a physical manifestation of living amongst the ruins of the past.
What does Noelia say about public speaking and cardiology? Noelia suffered from genuine paroxysmal tachycardia, where the heart beats faster than beats per minute. She claimed that the idea of public speaking terrified her more than the sight of internal organs, which is why she chose the specialized field of cardiac electrophysiology, believing she could deal with patients one-on-one rather than in groups.