Is Umami Just A Vibe Check or is it Truly the Fifth Taste?
I genuinely thought the only relevance of umami was that it was the name of this awesome trendy burger joint in the city around the early 2010s called Umami Burger. Does anyone else remember that spot? Their NYC branch closed down but I remember my broke college self relishing their over-priced “Manly Burger”. Mind you, I had just been introduced to eating beef and had only tried a handful of burgers at that point. So to me this was a delicious burger.
What was in the burger? Well thankfully a quick Google search helped me walk down memory lane because I have the memory of a goldfish and all I remember is enjoying it. The burger consisted of beer infused cheddar cheese, umami ketchup, bacon lardons, smoked-salt onion strings and of course the beef patty. All of these ingredients have umami.
Umami is considered to be the fifth taste profile: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. According to the Umami Information Center (damn that’s serious), this taste profile was studied in Japan by Professor Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo Imperial University around 1908. He dissected the components of kombu dashi (a stock or broth made from dried kombu kelp) and recognized that the presence of the amino acid, glutamate, created a taste profile that didn’t fit the existing four. Following Professor Ikeda’s discovery, other scientists discovered more umami components stemming from the presence of nucleotides: inosinate, found in katsuobushi/dried bonito flakes, and guanylate, found in dried shiitake mushrooms. Glutamate is the primary umami taste, while inosinate and guanylate are flavor enhancers that amplify the umami sensation, especially when paired with glutamate. Salts of the amino acid, aspartate, and the nucleotide, adenylate, are also types of umami substances but are weaker than glutamate. Succinic acid, found in shellfish, has also been identified as another possible umami substance. In scientific terms, umami is defined as the taste of salts combining glutamate and inosinate or guanylate with the likes of sodium ions, such as monosodium glutamate, or potassium ions. I think this is all the science I can handle for now.
Popularly, umami is defined as this delicious savory taste which is also how the company Ajinomoto defines it. By the way, that is Professor Ikeda’s company and they are the largest manufacturer of MSG, which is the chemical seasoning of umami. It’s an interesting story for another blog post. I like how The Noma Guide to Fermentation book describes it, “umami-the elusive, craveable quality that connects foods like mushrooms, tomatoes, cheese, meat and soy sauce”. Below I found a great picture that shows what day-to-day foods contain umami and the strength of the flavor based on the chemical components.
Glutamate is found in a variety of foods including meat, fish and vegetables. Inosinate is found in generous quantities in animal-based foods such as meat and fish, while large amounts of guanylate can be found in dried mushroom products such as dried shiitake (Umami Information Center).
There are three characteristics that describe umami: a taste that spreads across the tongue, coating it completely, a persistent and lingering taste and a mouthwatering sensation. Unlike sweet and salty tastes that are experienced the most on the tip of the tongue, it is said that umami can be felt all over the tongue. Studies suggest that among the basic tastes, umami has a major impact on the aftertaste of foods. Lastly, umami promotes salivation more strongly than sour or bitter flavor profiles.
Each of the basic tastes acts as a signal for the body to detect nutrients or harmful substances. Umami is the taste of amino acids and nucleotides and tells us when a food contains protein. Protein itself has no taste, but when they break down into free amino acids, like glutamate, disintegrating the amino acid chain, we perceive the savory umami taste. Thus umami serves as a signal to the body that we have consumed protein. Sensing umami triggers the secretion of saliva and digestive juices, facilitating the smooth digestion of protein. This breakdown of protein is also why aged meat tastes incredible and is packed with umami. So as a rule of thumb for your next aged meat or fermentation project, the longer proteins break down into glutamate the more intense the flavor gets!
No one can claim to have invented umami as it is a taste that is naturally occurring in food. The terminology credit, however, all goes to Professor Ikeda and Japanese researchers in 1908. Many cuisines all over the world incorporate umami into their recipes without specifically highlighting this taste component. In fact, The Noma Guide to Fermentation book states that human breast milk contains ten times as much free glutamate as cow’s milk. During breast-feeding, the glutamate content in milk rises steadily as infants nurse. We also have glutamate receptors in our gut that signal our brains as we begin eating something rich in umami. Our appetite immediately increases but we feel satiated sooner and for longer than when we eat a low-umami meal. Biologically, we crave umami and thus we seek it.
The research on just this taste profile is incredible and has been documented extensively. However it took some time for the Western world to adopt these studies because it was really only in the late 2000s the term umami began to pop up everywhere. It may be due to a couple of reasons; first of all, there was a science-y based hesitation since up until 2000, there was no scientific study that evidenced taste receptors on the tongue that responded to umami. There was a study done by N Chaudhari, A M Landin and S D Roper that proved the existence of these receptors but these scientific studies are behind a paywall and so if you are interested I have linked them below (nature.com). I’d rather spend that $21 on an overpriced smash burger instead of a scientific journal #priorities. I also suspect another reason for the latency in accepting the concept of umami, especially in America, was the strenuous relations between the US and Japan during the 1900s. The Alien Land Act of 1913, the complicated relationship with Japan, China and Taiwan, the world wars…just to name a few. Perhaps another reason could also be the disconnect with western perception of taste. People were so used to viewing taste as just salty, sweet, spicy and sour. Lastly, MSG was associated with “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome” in 1968. I was going to write another blog post about this but in short, you can’t always “trust the science”. This false scare further prolonged the embrace of umami in America. But hey - at least it’s here now…🙄
Honestly this post was too much of a science-y lingo read so I hope at least these three things are clear: umami is what makes protein-rich dishes taste delicious, glutamate + (inosinate or guanylate) + sodium = MSG & it’s annoying but okay to buy an overpriced smash burger.
Links to books and websites mentioned/referenced:
The Noma Guide to Fermentation by René Redzepi & David Zilber
https://www.ajinomoto.com/umami/5-facts
https://www.umamiinfo.com/what/whatisumami/
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/09/12/1197874002/umami-savory-taste-history
https://www.mushroomcouncil.com/articles/what-is-umami/
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/12/10/18129391/what-is-umami-taste-msg
https://food52.com/blog/27620-what-is-umami?srsltid=AfmBOoqTpOTQzkieOC7gUV3KB3XTwyn1Qicaz53SiD4vEADH9GBEmMww
https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/what-is-umami-plus-why-you-should-definitely-have-it-on-your-plate/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4515277/
https://www.npr.org/2022/05/02/1095988620/why-it-took-nearly-100-years-for-umami-to-be-globally-accepted-as-a-distinct-fla
https://www.fooddive.com/spons/tracing-the-sensory-story-from-umami-to-kokumi/603798/
https://www.japanlivingguide.com/lifestyle/japanesefood/umami/
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/you-think-you-know-umami
https://www.nature.com/articles/nn0200_99
https://www.nature.com/articles/nn0200_113
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/japanese-relations
https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/the-rotten-science-behind-the-msg-scare/
https://www.jessicagavin.com/what-is-umami/