I'm Italian and my husband's not, and for years his gnocchi got more praise from dinner guests than mine. It made me feel inferior. Today I learned he's been secretly adding MSG to his gnocchi dough, like he's in a food competition, to undermine me.
Monosodium glutamate, the same thing that gives Parmigiano, Grana, etc their umami feel.
Sure, but it can also be bought as an ingredient. It looks like salt (I guess it technically is one). There's also liquid versions - I have a little Maggi dropper bottle. It may seem strange to add it separately but you'd be very surprised how common it is with restaurants...
As for it being the same or not, that's more of a philosophical question. Chemically it's identical.