by Elizabeth Coughlan

Created on: March 05, 2010

Have you ever tasted a dish and found it lacking that certain "je ne sais quoi", and then tried every flavor enhancer in your store cupboard to make it right? You could be searching for umami (pronounced ooh mommy). Umami means flavor, or taste, in Japanese, and represents our fifth taste sensation after sweet, sour, bitter and salty.

Ikunae Ikeda, of the Tokyo Imperial University, discovered this fifth taste just over a hundred years ago. However, it wasn't until the year 2000 that researchers at the University of Miami proved that the tongue actually has taste receptors that recognize this fifth taste. It was previously thought that we could only distinguish between four different flavors.

Although it has only recently been recognized as a separate taste experience in the western world, umami is present in many familiar foods. The strongest umami flavors come from fermented or dried products as can be seen from the following list, which, although not comprehensive, is a good indicator of the umami taste.

Vegetables (tomatoes, especially dried and in ketchup, sweet potatoes, soy beans)
Seafood (oysters, abalone, sardines, canned anchovies, dried and smoked fish)
Cured Meats (bacon, Parma ham)
Curds (yoghurt, crème fraiche, cottage cheese)
Sauces (Tabasco, fish sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce)
Fungi (shitake, porcini, truffles)
Drinks (black tea, miso soup)
Alcohol (beer, wine)
Cheeses (mature cheddar, Parmesan, blue cheese)
Pickles (gherkins, olives)
Balsamic vinegar

All these foods have one thing in common; they all contain high amounts of glutamic acid. This is an amino acid which occurs naturally in animal and vegetable protein. It is also produced in the human body, and is found in breast milk.

When professor Ikeda discovered the fifth taste, umami, he isolated the glutamate salt, and produced monosodium glutamate (MSG) as a food additive to improve the taste of cooked foods. He called his invention, Aji-no-moto, or essence of taste, and it immediately became popular, making him a very wealthy man. This synthetic form of umami has been widely used throughout the world, especially in Asian cooking. Unfortunately, it is believed to cause side effects like headaches and palpitations, although controlled studies have found no concrete proof of this.

Top chefs have always experimented with umami-rich foods to enhance the taste of their dishes. Now, instead of using trial and error, we can all add that illusive taste ourselves, with the introduction of "Taste

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