Umami

[veronica 2]

My friend last night asked me about 'umami' as it seems to be becoming a trendy word to throw about now in cooking circles ( yes, they exist! ) and so I looked up some stuff.

 

Quote:

Umami (旨味) is a proposed addition to the currently accepted four basic tastes sensed by specialized receptor cells present on the human tongue.[1] The same taste is also known as xiÄnwèi (traditional Chinese: 鮮味; simplified Chinese: 鲜味) in Chinese cooking.

 

Umami is a Japanese word meaning savory, a "deliciousness" factor deriving specifically from detection of the natural amino acid, glutamic acid, or glutamates common in meats, cheese, broth, stock, and other protein-heavy foods. The action of umami receptors explains why foods treated with monosodium glutamate (MSG) often taste 'heartier'.

 

Glutamate has a long history in cooking: it appears in Asian foods such as soy sauce and fish sauce, and in Italian food in parmesan cheese and anchovies. It is the taste of Marmite in the UK, of Golden Mountain sauce in Thailand, of Maggi Sauce worldwide, of Goya Sazón on the Latin islands of the Caribbean, of Salsa Lizano in Costa Rica and of Kewpie mayonnaise in Japan. It also is directly available in monosodium glutamate (MSG).

 

Also found "you know the taste of umami, even if you don't know the word. It is savoury, mouth-smackey; it's a meaty taste. One food that has it is Marmite, also parmesan, ripe tomatoes, preserved meats and cheese.

 

Interesting that it is 'a proposed addition' as above. I did not know that. Yappari, nihongo (and Japanese food) muzukashii desu ne.

 

 

[wendy-cake 0]

I have been told that foreigners don't have umami, and so I can't know and the above is obviously rubbish.

[HoTRoD 2]

Quote:

It is the taste of Marmite in the UK

Oh dear!

[thursday 1]

long live MSG