umami

at dinner with foodies last night the term 'umami' was used to describe food and wine.. this was the first time i had heard the term spoken outside of japanese, and was surprised to find the word had made it into the english lexicon.

literally meaning 'deliciousness', i always thought of it as the taste sensation of 'savouriness' - that which makes your mouth water and your tastebuds sing! apparently, our tastebuds have receptors for 5 different tastes: bitter, salty, sour, sweet - and now a fifth taste - umami. the sensations of pungent (warm/spicy - like vodka, chile peppers), cold (menthol), and fat - (yes, we actually have fat receptors on our tongue!) - are detected by somatosensory receptors, not considered to be tastes per se.

umami is the savoury taste sensation one gets from tasting free amino acids - particulary glutamates and ribonucleotides including inosinate and guanylate - naturally present in foods such as parmesan cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, kelp, soysauce, meat and fish.. salt acts synergistically to boost the umami taste, and thus the flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate was popularized..

our first taste of umami is in breastmilk, which is rich in glutamates - perhaps this is why 'comfort foods' seem to consist of a mixture of carbs and foods rich in umami - mac & cheese, rice & beans, mashed potatoes... most of our condiments too - boullions/broths, soysauce, fish sauce - and what else but...ketchup!