Taste Umami - Meet Your Taste Buds!

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Salty, Sour, Sweet and Bitter - Plus Umami as Pinch Hitter - Your Taste Buds Team!

You say: "Mmmmh! This tastes good!" Your face lightens up: "Ah, so sweet!" You frown - it's too bitter, it needs more sugar!

Why do you crunch up all your facial muscles after biting into a pickle?

Let's take a closer look at the reasons for our reactions to the food in our mouths. We all have heard about taste buds, sensitive regions on our tongue, and other obscure concepts like "olfactory receptors". We know that food is either salty, sour, sweet, or bitter. But now they even talk about about a fifth sense - umami. What's going on? you might ask - why do we need Japanese science to explain what we like? You're right, we don't. But if you're curious about your buds - look through this lens, pal!WorldClassMasterpieceBadge

Can you see the taste buds?

Hey, you've got bumps on your tongue! 

They're called "papillae".

There are four different types of papillae all over your tongue, and even on your soft palate and epiglottis - the little flap that keeps the food from going down your wind pipe (hopefully!). I'll spare you from any Latin names. Just know that papillae function as holders for these cute little hairy rascals called taste buds, the tips of which send signals to the brain about how something tastes - sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami. (There is this Japanese thing again!)

The average Squidooers have about 10,000 buds (now that's social networking, my friend!), and they renew every two weeks, or so. (Even better!)

The average smoking Squidarettes can kiss many of their taste buds good-bye. (What a nice metaphor!)

The average older Squideezers may have only about 5,000 working taste buds left, and the average older smoking Squidjunkies might as well shoot-up their gourmet meals.

Note! Our popular understanding is that different tastes are recognized in different areas of the tongue. As it turned out, this is nothing but tasteless baloney! Some Harvard psychologist had actually mistranslated a German scientific paper from 1901 (Sauerkraut?) and published a "tongue map".

Sensitivity to all kinds of taste is found all over the tongue and other regions of the mouth (soft palate, epiglottis).

Here's a fabulous blog post by the Reluctant Gourmet with more on this subject.

Can you "taste" with your eyes?

You're not alone, bud! 

"Tasting" with eyes, nose, feet, antennae...what else?

The visual presentation of a dish seems to tell us a lot about its taste, doesn't it? We "eat" with our eyes! Sometimes we overload our plates when we are really starved. As the saying goes: "The eyes were hungrier than the stomach!"

The olfactory receptors high up in our noses contain cells that send messages to the brain about the food we're chewing. These signals work together with our taste buds to give us the true flavor perception of the weenie in our mouth.

  • Insects can taste with their mouths, antennae and feet!

  • Fish have taste receptors in their mouths, fins and tails!

Here is a wonderful article on "The Physiology of Taste" by Michael Berry.

Tomatoes have bad-hair days, too!

Umami - the 5th Sense of Taste 

A Japanese discovery!

In 1908, Dr. Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo Imperial University discovered that glutamate was the main active ingredient in konbu (kelp), an indispensable source for delicious stocks of the traditional Japanese cuisine. He coined the term "umami" to describe its taste.

Although there is no direct English translation for it, umami is a savory taste imparted by glutamate and ribonucleotides, including inosinate and guanylate, which occur naturally in many foods: beef, chicken, fish, vegetables and dairy products.

The taste of umami itself is quite subtle. It blends real well with other tastes, expanding and rounding out the flavors. Most people don't recognize umami when they first taste it, but it can be detected when eating ripe tomatoes, parmesan cheese, cured ham, mushrooms, meat and fish. Umami plays a very important role in making food taste delicious.

It was not until the 1980's that various studies had confirmed "umami" as a legitimate fifth basic taste next to sweet, salty, sour, and bitter.

We experience our first encounter with umami as babies, sensing intuitively the essential nutrients in our mother's milk. Babies don't like it sour or bitter, but prefer the sweetness and umami in vegetable purees or soup.

Baby eats a lemon... 

A baby has a lot of taste buds!

Baby Eats a Sour Lemon

My 10 month daughter loves Lemons. watch her squirm and go back for more!

curated content from YouTube

Serve Some Umami To Your Mommy! 

Many celebrity chefs do it!

"Anna and David Kasabian have not only written a scientific tell-all book about this mysterious ingredient, but they have also included amazing recipes - revealing a new genre in cooking and exciting new tastes for the palate."
Mario Batali, chef and author

"Great cooks throughout the centuries have spontaneously understood the essential quality of individual ingredients and have instinctively combined these to create superlative concoctions. In this fascinating book, the Kasabians argue convincingly that this intuitive knowledge of cooks has a name: Umami."
Jacques Pepin, chef, author and educator
The Fifth Taste: Cooking with Umami

The Fifth Taste: Cooking with Umami

by: Anna Kasabian, David Kasabian

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Release Date: 11/08/2005

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Umami - Take us Back in Time... 

Our ancestors must have had taste buds, too!

Cooks of the Ancient Roman Empire used fermented fish sauces called garem and liquamen as seasonings. Sardines, mackerels, and other fish were salted and fermented for the highly-prized first extraction of the amber-colored garem, especially during those times when sugar and salt were not available. Many recipes using garem can be found in the famous Roman cook book "Apecius". A modern product in comparison would be anchovy paste.

  • Columbus brought tomatoes from South America to Europe and they became soon an inseparable ingredient of the Italian cuisine.

  • In England, Worcester Sauce was created from tomatoes and other vegetables, which then inspired the production of ketchup and chili sauces in America.

  • In Asia, umami is found in beans, grain, shiitake mushrooms, seaweed and dried seafoods. Pass the soy sauce, please!

  • Fermented or cured meat and dairy products like ham and cheese are very popular in Western cuisine.

Eat, Live, and Play Like Caesar! 

Don't forget your acid reducer, though...

With numerous illustrations and recipes to conjure up the luxurious flavors and aromas of Roman literature, Empires of Pleasures will be welcomed by anyone with an interest in classical literature and culture.
Empire of Pleasures: Luxury and Indulgence in the Roman World

Empire of Pleasures: Luxury and Indulgence in the Roman World

by: Andrew Dalby

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Release Date: 12/31/1969

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Partial List Of Umami-Rich Foods 

Vote for your favorites!

1

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Parmesan Cheese

3 points

2

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Prawns

2 points

3

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Tomatoes

2 points

4

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Squid. Squid?? Squid!!!

1 point

5

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Meat

1 point

6

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Shiitake Mushrooms

1 point

7

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Potatoes

1 point

8

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Carrots

1 point

9

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Seaweed

0 points

10

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Sardines

0 points

11

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Bonito

0 points

12

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Soy Beans

0 points

13

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Chinese Cabbage

0 points

14

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Green Tea

0 points

A true gourmet chef!

Umami - The French Connection 

"A Riveting Thriller!" "Best Story of the Century!" (just kidding...)

Envision Paris during the late 1800's - another revolution was under way: The birth of true French Cuisine!

Marie-Antoine Careme (1783-1833) was the world's first celebrity chef, focusing primarily on the lavish presentation of mostly cold foods on epic buffets. He said: "A well-displayed meal is improved 100 percent in my eyes!" Great taste was not a major concern of this chef. His pompous sculptures made from pork fats were mostly inedible.

And then came Georges Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935)! He preferred to serve his meals a la russe- broken down in several courses - appetizer, soup, salad, fish, meat, cheese, etc. And the individual dishes were prepared quickly and "to order" - a la minute. His food was served hot, and flavor had become paramount again.

Escoffier's customers experienced flavors they had never tasted before. It was not just a combination of sweet, salty, sour, and bitter - it was different, more, new, and - yummy! And here's why:

Escoffier invented veal stock!

Simmered down to a rich flavor concentrate (glace viande), veal stock was and is to this day the indispensable basis for many classic sauce preparations. And veal stock is pure umami.

When you cook meat, or in this case - meat stock, the glutamate molecule breaks apart and turns into "L-glutamate". The substance becomes then delicious. The same process happens when you age cheeses, ferment soy beans, or ripen tomatoes in the sun.

Escoffier's famous text book Le Guide Culinaire contains 5,000 recipes and is used to this day by many professional chefs.

Umami Seminar 

This is truly interesting!

If you are interested in learning more about umami and food preparations using umami-rich products, look at this introduction video. There are many more videos available on YouTube, for those of you looking for further studies on this subject.

Umami Seminar (6) - Shingo Suzuki (1 of 2)

curated content from YouTube

Please Visit My Cooking Blog "Chef Keem's Kitchen" 

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Auguste Escoffier - The Emperor of Chefs! 

Praised by a German Emperor...

Kaiser Wilhelm II said to Escoffier: "I am the Emperor of Germany, but you are the Emperor of Chefs!"

Presented for the first time to the English-speaking public, here is the entire translation of Auguste Escoffier's masterpiece Le Guide Culinaire. Its basic principles are as valid today as when it was first published in 1903. It offers those who practice the art of cookery - whether they be professional chefs or managers, housewives, gourmets or students of haute cuisine - invaluable guidelines culled from more than fifty years' experience.
Escoffier: The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery

Escoffier: The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery

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Release Date: 12/31/1969

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Escoffier's Life of Cooking for Royalty 

A fascinating read not only for culinary professionals

Escoffier's great love of food and culinary art glows from every page, creating a sensory feast for serious gourmands and professionals alike. Escoffier intimately describes dishes, presentations, original menus and recipes, all in the
context of their creation.

History buffs will feast here, too. Filled with tidbits about the aristocracies of France and England, their dining habits, and their amusements, the book provides insight into the social and political system at the time, as well. In addition to Escoffier's original memoirs, this collector's item includes:

Never-before-published correspondence with American chefs.

Photographs of original menus and recipes.

Current menus from Savoy, Ritz-Carlton, and Pierre Hotels.

A glossary of people, places, and events.

A concurrent time line of developments in American political and culinary history.
Auguste Escoffier: Memories of My Life

Auguste Escoffier: Memories of My Life

by: Auguste Escoffier

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Chef Keem and assistant address all taste buds!

Chef Talk about Umami, Flavor, Taste, Balance, and more... 

Explore some or all of these links for great tasting info

Chef Dr. Tim
"Ooooo MAAHHH mee."
"This has become one of my favorite words. I just love saying it - umami, umami, umami. It sounds like a Buddhist chant - a very sensuous word. It is also one of my favorite tidbits of food information."
From Peter Kump's Cooking School
Several instructors and graduates share their insights on palate development, ingredient combination, and flavor advice.
Washington State Chefs Association
Great website with lots of information on flavors, tasting, and much more.
Blog dedicated to molecular gastronomy
A scientific approach to taste buds and flavors

How to create a flavor explosion in your mouth 

Allow me to give you some tips from my experience

I have created a line of flavored agave nectars under the brand name Agasweet. This healthy all-natural sweetener is perfectly suited for use in combination with savory foods.

Let's say, you make a sandwich. You slather some mayo and mustard on the bread slices, layer smoked turkey, ham, cheeses, pickles, avocado and tomato slices, and top it all off with a few leaves of lettuce. Great! You have a toothsome concoction, bursting with flavor, addressing your sour, salty, bitter, and umami taste buds. It tastes great, but something is missing for a truly divine experience - you guessed it: "sweet!"

This is where Agasweet comes into play. Add a few squeezes of any flavor Agasweet right in the center of your sandwich and your guests will reward you with "oohs" and "ahhhs"!

The synergy of addressing ALL taste buds simultaneously creates exactly this flavor explosion in your mouth.

The same principle applies to all of your savory preparations. Soups, sauces, stews, marinades, grilled seafood or chicken, roasts, hams - everything you cook will improve with the addition of a little "sweet".

The best part, however, is that Agasweet is a low glycemic nectar that won't give you a sugar rush. It is the juice from the core of the mature agave plant, gently cooked into a syrup and then flavored with highest-quality flavoring ingredients, such as essential oils and pure extracts.

Please find all the information you need about Agasweet flavored agave nectar on my Agasweet companion lens.

Agasweet on eBay 

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Get your spice on... (a rack, please!) 

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This looks like a great space saver!
Spice Stack Cabinet Spice Rack

Spice Stack Cabinet Spice Rack

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Leave me a sweet comment - it's good for your umami!

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