Editorial
Founding Editor & Publisher
Jon Ajinga
Cook, editor, and independent publisher. Colorado Springs.
Reach the editor through our contact form.
Jon founded The Umami Post in 2026. He edits all published work, manages the platform, and writes on home cooking, food systems, and technique. He is the sole person with editorial authority over what appears in this publication.
Cook's Letters
Reader letters are received and reviewed by the founding editor. All correspondence should be sent through our contact form or via the letters form. A selection is published in the Cook's Letters section.
Contributors
The Umami Post publishes work from independent cooks, writers, and recipe testers. Contributor bios and recipe histories are available on individual cook pages. We are currently accepting pitches and recipe submissions -- read the guidelines before submitting.
Transparency
We believe mastheads should be honest about who is making editorial decisions and what their interests are. This page is updated whenever the structure of the publication changes.
The Umami Post has no institutional investors, no parent company, and no advertising relationships. It is reader-funded -- supported by readers through voluntary contributions. No portion of reader support goes to any outside party; all contributions fund the publication's operating costs and the work of testing and editing recipes. We will disclose any change to this arrangement prominently.
Full details of how the publication works, what it costs, and how it is built are available on the Transparency page.
Our Mark
The Umami Post is named for the fifth taste -- savory depth, the thing in a long-simmered stock or a ripe tomato or a cured anchovy that makes you stop chewing for a second and pay attention. It was first identified and named in 1908 by the Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda, after he wondered why his wife's dashi was so much more satisfying than the sum of its ingredients.
We chose the name because it stands for the way good cooking actually works: not the surface flavor, but the substance underneath. The savory note that arrives quietly and sticks around.