What exactly is Umami in terms of food?
Umami is one of the five generally recognized basic tastes sensed by specialized receptor cells present on the human and animal tongue. Umami is a loanword from Japanese meaning roughly “tasty,” although “brothy,” “meaty,” or “savory” have been proposed as alternative translations. In as much as it describes the flavor common to savory products such as meat, cheese, and mushrooms, umami is similar to Brillat-Savarin’s concept of osmazome, an early attempt to describe the main flavoring component of meat as extracted in the process of making stock. The umami taste is due to the detection of the carboxylate anion of glutamic acid, a naturally occurring amino acid common in meats, cheese, broth, stock, and other protein-heavy foods. Salts of glutamic acid, known as glutamates, easily ionize to give the same carboxylate form and therefore the same taste. For this reason, they are used as flavor enhancers. The most commonly used of these is monosodium glutamate (MSG). While the umami taste
Umami is one of the five generally recognized basic tastes sensed by specialized receptor cells present on the human and animal tongue. Umami is a loanword from Japanese meaning roughly “tasty,” although “brothy,” “meaty,” or “savory” have been proposed as alternative translations.[1][2] In as much as it describes the flavor common to savory products such as meat, cheese, and mushrooms, umami is similar to Brillat-Savarin’s concept of osmazome, an early attempt to describe the main flavoring component of meat as extracted in the process of making stock. The umami taste is due to the detection of the carboxylate anion of glutamic acid, a naturally occurring amino acid common in meats, cheese, broth, stock, and other protein-heavy foods. Salts of glutamic acid, known as glutamates, easily ionize to give the same carboxylate form and therefore the same taste. For this reason, they are used as flavor enhancers. The most commonly used of these is monosodium glutamate (MSG). While the umami
For ages, it was accepted that there were only four primary tastes on the tongue from which all others arose. Those would be sweet, sour, salty and bitter. But over the last few decades a fifth taste, called umami, has gained acceptance among gourmands worldwide. A Japanese scientist identified it in 1908, and it can best be described as savory. Sources: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2009/11/for-ages-it-was-accepted-that-there-were-only-four-primary-tastes-on-the-tongue-from-which-all-others-arose-those-would-be.
