John Myers
The Japanese term umami describes a taste that differs from the usual four tastes of sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. Umami is particularly common in protein-rich foods. The taste quality is described as hearty-intense, and meaty. However, it cannot be compared with a salty aroma. In the meantime, it has also been scientifically proven that in addition to the receptors for sweet, sour, salty, and bitter taste buds for umami are also present in the human mouth.
Umami is mediated by the amino acid glutamate, which is found primarily in high-protein foods like meat, fish, and cheese. But mushrooms and ripe or dried tomatoes also contain the umami-mediating substance. In the form of the flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate, umami is now used in the food industry to enhance the taste of food. Soy sauce, fish sauce, stock, broth, meat, yeast extract, and celery seed contain a particularly large amount of glutamate. Furthermore, the flavor carrier is also present in human breast milk.
The term umami was created in 1908 by the Japanese chemist Ikeda Kikunae, who was studying the taste quality of the alga Laminaria japonica. Known as kombu in Japan, this type of seaweed is high in monosodium glutamate and used to flavor soups in the “Land of the Rising Sun”. The Japanese word “umami” is made up of the parts “umai” and “mi” and translated means something like “savory” or “delicious and spicy”.
