Umami - The Hidden Flavor
Written By: Alexandra Perez-Urbina on Tue, Oct 28th 2008
"Umami" (ooh-mah-mee) - sounds like a Hispanic pet name, or like maybe something Hispanic guys might say to a pretty gal walking by... "U-mami, estas sabrosa." While the word's real meaning doesn't take on a sexist twist, it does turn on our taste buds.
As most of you already know, for many years there were four basic, primary tastes that were labeled and accepted: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. "Umami" is a Japanese word meaning savory, and it is the fifth taste... it's a deliciousness factor, as good ol' Wiki states, and it's sensed by special taste receptors in our tongue. The ever-so-naughty glutamates (especially that mean, tricky little thing called monosodium glutamate that makes food taste so good), activate the umami receptors in our tongue and make food taste more rounded. Umami basically attributes to what our brain labels as delicious. Fortunately, you don't have to get the umami from MSG products. Glutamate is a natural food-based substance that occurs in meat, fish, dairy, and even vegetables.
While "umami" was not considered the fifth legitimate taste until the 1980's, "umami" was discovered in the beginning of the 20th century by a Japanese doctor by the name of Kikunae Ikeda. He tried to pinpoint why kombu (kelp) made food taste so good. When he finally succeeded in extracting glutamate from kombu, he discovered that glutamate is the main ingredient in kombu, and used the term "umami" to describe the taste. He also concluded that this taste had to be in Western foods and said:
"Those who pay careful attention to their tastebuds will discover in the complex flavor of asparagus, tomatoes, cheese and meat, a common and yet absolutely singular taste which cannot be called sweet, or sour, or salty, or bitter..."
Foods with higher levels of "umami" are: meat, chicken, pork, certain kinds of fish and shellfish, fermented foods, stocks, tomatoes, shiitake and enokitake mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, and cheese. For today's science lesson, the "umami" sensation can also be enhanced by using multiple ingredients, especially those containing amino acids, inosinate or guanylate (so remember, food nerds, glutamate + inosinate or guanylate = deliciousness). One of the examples of glutamate + inosinate combinations listed in the umami website is onion (glutamate) + leg of lamb (inosinate).
Some of my instructors referred to "umami" as more of a mouth-feel, which is an accurate description as it refers to a food's roundness. Referring to it as a mouth-feel also makes it more tangible, since the definitions for "savory" are little vague as far as "umami" goes. So next time you sink your teeth into a rich stew, or into an aged provolone, and you feel your salivary glands activated, and feel a complete roundness and satisfaction in your mouth and your brain screams "oh yeah!," that's "umami" talking and it is delicious.
