What is Umami?
I’ve been seeing the term ‘umami’ popping up, albeit infrequently, and I’m intrigued by a new word to describe food. I’m still a bit perplexed about its meaning, but I think part of this is perhaps lost in translation.
Umami is a Japanese word, and to those who understand Japanese I suspect that it very succinctly describes a taste or flavor – but I don’t think that we have one word in English that neatly corresponds. I’ve seen umami defined a few ways. In one vague description it was described as another taste sensation besides the standard ones we ascribe to our taste buds: sweet, bitter, salty, and sour. The Japanese feel that we have a fifth sensation, umami. That description hinted at the meaning of umami, but didn’t get to the core.
More recently, I was reading an issue of Saveur magazine in which they compiled “The Burger Bible,” and one article described burgers as having an umami quality. They elaborated that this flavor can be meaty and is usually savory. Mushrooms, tomatoes and cheese were given as other examples of umami foods. Supposedly, umami foods both create and sastisfy food cravings.
Umami is becoming more generally accepted as a fifth flavor sensation…yet another “fact” I learned in elementary school that has been debunked – we don’t really have four taste sensations!
Tags: Japanese, meaty, savory, taste buds, taste sensation, umami
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