Topic: Umami - the fifth ingredient of taste

[Spottymaldoon]

I run the risk here of creating a general yawn but I just searched the site for the word "umami" and it didn't come up.

I had always been taught that sweet, salty, sour and bitter were the fundamental 'tastes' with 'spicy-hot' and 'metallic' also tongue sensations but in a different category. I was taught that all other sensations from enjoyable food came from fragrance (smell) and texture.

Yet there seemed to be something missing. Some foods, and most notably a good BIR curry, have such a HUGE savory taste which can't be matched using any combination of the four basics or by the addition of herbal fragrances.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) has no smell and although it is salty to taste its effect on flavour enhancement is certainly not due to saltiness - there had to be a missing taste component of a 'savory' nature - and probably more than one.

I now see that this is well known in the food industry and it has been given the name "umami" - there seem to be several components to be added in order to produce a balanced umami and this includes the smoky component often mentioned on here.

Understanding umami, or having an intuitive sense of it, seems to be a vital element in producing delicious dishes, and it is not just a matter of throwing in the right amount of MSG - there appear to be multiple ingredients which must be added to enhance the umami.

Where the recipes here have produced noble results I suggest that the right umami has been an essential component of that success.

If what I have said is old hat for you, I apologize; it is a revelation for me and possibly for a few others too. For anybody who complains that the "can't seem to get that restaurant taste" in their home-cooked food (Indian, Chinese whatever) the secret appears to lie here.

There is a wealth of information on the web if you just search under "umami" and there is even an "Umami Information Centre'.

[Spottymaldoon]

It would have helped if I has spelled "UMAMI" correctly when I searched - I apologize, that's embarrassing

[natterjak]

Heh, not a general yawn and well worth a thread I reckon.  Heston has a good deal to say on this subject and mentions it in his "In Search of Perfection" TV Series.

[Malc.]

I've never heard of it before but i'm now off to see what food stuffs contain high amounts Glutamic Acid, Inosine Monophosphate and Guanosine Monophosphate.

I don't know if this sort of thing is in the COFIDS but i'm off to have a look, If i'm not back in half an hour send out a search party. lol


EDIT= wasn't in there. 

[fishy]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/7215687/Umami-I-tried-it-and-now-I-want-more-and-more.html

[Vindaloo-crazy]

All purpose seasoning. Goes into every curry I make.