Some foods are eternal classics that taste delicious and remain popular through the decades, even as tastes and trends change. In many cases, the credit goes to umami, a savory flavor, and the fifth taste our tongues can detect. If you think you can only find umami-rich foods at a Japanese market, think again. Although it is found abundantly in Japanese and Asian cooking without a doubt, informed cooks everywhere understand its existence and tastiness. Umami is further proof there is a reason some recipes and foods are more appealing to us than others – use it right for a better flavor.
It's a fun research project and one you can share with the entire family if you search and read the results to learn more about umami. If you have school-age kids learning about taste in school, it will be interesting to see if it comes up in their classes as they learn about sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. You'll see the scientific community debated the existence of umami throughout much of the 20th century before accepting and confirming it. But on a common-sense level, it's easier to understand simply by looking are the foods we love the most and realizing they each have a savory flavor.
Once you understand more about umami and the foods and ingredients that possess it naturally, you can revisit some of your own recipes. Do they have it? Is it easy to add more? As you begin asking those questions and making tweaks to what you cook, they'll turn out with a more savory flavor that you and everyone else will love. As you'll read, amino acids create the umami taste, and some foods have them in their raw state while others release them when cooked. Sauces with natural ingredients like fish sauce and soy sauce also bring them out, and some mineral-rich sea salts can add or enhance them.
The food chemists of the world understand the chemical expression of umami as monosodium glutamate. It is sold as a 'flavor enhancer' that can be added to food like salt but is out of favor in many places like the United States. Many people report allergic reactions to MSG, and there is a general bias against food additives; therefore, naturally achieving the wonderful umami flavor is the contemporary ideal. One theory about why we prefer umami so much is its presence in breast milk. It means our earliest taste memories would be about umami-rich flavor. You quickly understand its desirability.
