The History of Umami

Umami is often called the 5th taste.

Everyone is familiar with the first four which are, Sweet, Sour,
Salt
and Bitter.

So how would you describe Umami?

You know what sweet, sour, salty, and bitter tastes like. That is undeniable. However if you took a spoonful of umami, would you know?

It has been described as "savory' or "meaty" but that doesn't really explain much does it. Remember when we use to use MSG or "Accent" to flavor food? It was sort of like a salt flavor but different and hard to describe? Perhaps because it is a little bit more difficult to identify is what has kept it from becoming more mainstream in our diet. Also because of the scare of MSG being "Dangerous".

So what does the word umami mean?

What exactly is an "umami" ?

Umami's are foods that contain a flavor compounds that are Glutamates. Ok that is not a big help is it.
What are Glutamates? Well that is simple, they are amino acids. Yeah, thats not much help either is it.

I searched and searched for a simple answer that I could explain it in a visual way but it is difficult.
You can just google them and you will get some basic info. They are natural occuring elements however, as opposed to the myth that it is some kind of Frankenstein chemical that is bad for you.

So how would you describe Umami?

While you would see lemon juice as an acid. You can see sugar as sweet, You can see salt and know it's salty, and you can taste an orange rind and taste bitter. So how would you know when you saw something Umami?

Glutamic acid

Kikunae Ikeda

Kikunae Ikeda a professor in 1908 discovered that "Kombu" a flavorful broth made of seaweed's flavor came from glutamates, when some had evaporated and left some crystals. He had always wondered that this flavor was different from sweet, sour, salty and bitter.

While skeptical soon other scientists verified that it was detected by different receptors on the tongue. It also coats the tongue leaving and help leave a pleasant long lasting after taste.

Some of his fellow scientists discovered that other foods like shitake mushrooms also have a high amount of umami but it is a different substance than a glutamate. Together they make a great combination.

Read more about Umami

A nice site on Umami

So what is MSG?

MSG was a product invented by Kikunae Ikeda that took the glutamic acid from seaweed and blended it with salt.Glutamic acid is not very flavorful by itself but when blended with salts they come alive with flavor.

Does umami occur in foods besides seaweed and shitake mushrooms?

Yes some of the common foods you can find it in are Parmesan cheese, tomatoes, seafood, we already mentioned shitake mushrooms but all mushrooms have it.

So a great combination of umami flavors is a tomato sauce that you add parmesan cheese and mushrooms to.

Were the Japanese the only ones to use umami flavor in food?

The use of umami flavor has been used for centuries, however recently it has been identified and utilized.

The ancient Romans used garum masala from fermented fish.

The Bysantine and Arab cuisines used fermented barley sauces

and of course soy sauce other similar sauces have been used in Asia for centuries.

Some Great Resources

I love this page from the Ajinomoto group that makes many products based on
the umami flavoring.

This page has great pictures and explanations that give you a good visual idea of what
umami is.