WHAT IS UMAMI?

As Operators, Manufacturers and Vendors all look for the “next big thing” to give them an edge, we ask ourselves what is the path to success? Is it a trend we are looking for? Is it a sales incentive or gimmick? Perhaps it requires market research and feedback from focus groups. Is the bottom line the primary driver of all menuing decisions? The answers will vary according to your business needs but when it comes to success, it is really all about the reaction of the customer when they put that bite of food in their mouth. Perhaps the answer can also be found in one of the most ancient and unknown tastes, Umami. Can Umami be the “X” factor when it comes to giving your food that extra something? What it really comes down to when looking for success is the taste and flavor of our foods and our cooking processes and we are finding out that Umami plays a big part.
Umami was discovered by a Japanese researcher one hundred years ago. Dr. Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo Imperial University recognized that certain foods like asparagus, tomatoes, meat and cheese all shared a common taste. It's a bit hard to put your finger on, though it's often described as "savory." I think it's easier to think of it as the taste that makes your mouth water. It also has a distinctive mouth feel, it lends a fullness or roundness. While taste and flavor are often used interchangeably, they are not the same thing. Flavor is determined by taste and smell. There are only five tastes--sweet, salt, sour, bitter and umami. Just as sweetness is imparted by sugar, umami is imparted by glutamate, a type of amino acid, and ribonucleotides, including inosinate and guanylate, which occur naturally in many foods. It is also manufactured in monosodium glutamate. It is added or occurs naturally in products with hydrolyzed soy protein and autolyzed yeast such as Marmite, Vegemite, Maggi, and Kewpie mayonnaise. It also exists in most cheese flavored snack foods. Of course, you will recognize that glutamates are also artificially manufactured as MSG. While MSG has a negative connotation, particularly in Chinese Cuisine, the idea in MSG is to re-produce this mysterious savory taste that does naturally occur. Soy Sauce, Parmesan cheese, Worcestershire sauce, dashi broth, fish sauce, bouillon, tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms and even potatoes are all sources of umami. Mixing and matching is fine. I sometimes add Asian fish sauce to chili and while not perceptible, I find it helps to round out the flavor. Scientists and chefs alike are interested in umami. While the isolated glutamate does not taste very good on it's own, research shows that it enhances the taste of many foods which is why umami was considered a "flavor enhancer" for so long before being recognized as a taste. It makes food taste better and can be used in making healthy foods more palatable for people who have a decrease in their ability to taste due to health or age.
Famous author and scientist Harold McGee mentioned that the chef Heston Blumenthal found the flavor of umami to be stronger in the seeds and surrounding juice of tomatoes than in the pulp. Coincidentally, he pointed out that Ferran Adria had created a dish using the seeds and surrounding liquid instead of the tomato flesh or pulp. The dish served at El Bulli was Blood Orange Foam with Tomato Seeds and Sorbet. Even if you aren't thinking about umami, you might be using it to make dishes taste good whether you realize it or not.

Jeff Rosen
Bay Brokerage Corporate Chef