Q: What is umami?

A: When chewing food, the tongue identifies the four primary flavors of sweet, salty, sour or bitter tastes. But there are secondary flavors that are more complex that add to the enjoyment or dislike of foods. The elusive flavor “umami” gives an inexplicable, delicious taste that is meaty and savory. Umami can be considered a secondary flavor or “secret ingredient” to create more interesting and desirable foods.

The discovery of umami dates back more than 2,000 years in the culinary field. But it wasn’t until recently that taste receptors have been identified to recognize the umami taste. This meaty taste relates to the amino acid glutamic acid (a.k.a. glutamate) found in many foods. The Japanese describe the chemistry between glutamate and foods as “deliciousness.”

The umami taste is used differently throughout Eastern and Western cuisine. Asians use umami-rich ingredients such as dashi (a fish and seaweed broth) to add depth of flavor. American and Western cuisines tend to use fat as a flavor carrier and to add richness. Western cuisine tends to bring out salty and sweet tastes where Asian cuisine uses all tastes, all the time.

Since the early 1980s, Western cuisine has used bouillon to add savory, meatlike flavors. Bouillon is similar to dashi broth because of glutamate.

Other foods that naturally contain glutamate include dried mushrooms, aged cheese, cured ham, sun-dried tomatoes, peas, sardines and anchovies.

The ingredient monosodium glutamate (MSG) was introduced in the United States in 1917. MSG comes from two sources. It is either extracted from seaweed or it is fermented from molasses or sugar beets. MSG can produce the umami taste in foods.

Q: How does umami work?

A: Umami can act as a flavor partner, a flavor layerer, a flavor balancer, or a flavor catalyst. Here’s how each of these work:

¢ Flavor partner: Umami can help create a new taste in old recipe. For example, in seafood chowder, made with seafood, potatoes and cream, the addition of mushrooms can maximize flavor.

¢ Flavor layerer: In this application, umami helps release flavors at different times, and then combines in the end. For example, in a cocktail sauce, it combines tomatoes and heat, such as ketchup and chili sauce. But by adding soy sauce and wasabi, layers are added.

The tomatoes naturally contain umami for the first layer. Wasabi has a sharp bite for the second layer. The third layer is soy sauce, which adds more umami and also a hot/savory taste. It also unifies the cocktail sauce.

¢ Flavor balancer: Umami, in this case, can help contrast, cancel or balance various flavors. For example, in Chinese five-spice powder, there are some very pungent ingredients such as curry powder, garlic and ginger. When these are combined with umami-rich soy sauce and a little sugar, the pungent aspects mellow to bring out the hot/savory tastes.

¢ Flavor catalyst: Umami’s purpose in this case is to keep primary flavors from fading. It provides a foundation for the recipe. While a grilled steak tastes great alone, the umami taste naturally in steak can be enriched by aging the meat or by topping with butter, a squirt of lemon and a pinch of salt. (Source: Food Technology, May 2005)

Q: So how can umami help consumers at home?

A: By using the principles of umami flavors described above, the consumer can create savory tastes in their own kitchen.

Umami may be why we enjoy pizza and pasta. The addition of Parmesan cheese, an aged cheese, brings out other flavors in each. Tomatoes in a simple lettuce salad make the salad tastier. A ripe tomato has 10 times more glutamate than an unripe tomato. Corn or peas, which contain glutamate, used fresh from the garden have more desirable flavors than those used days later. Umami flavors can help increase the craving for tasty, nutritious foods.