What is Umami?

When you eat something and it feels and tastes rich and luscious and you sort of want to swirl your tongue along the roof of your mouth to get the full intensity of the flavor, that’s umami. Umami is the fifth taste, it’s less obvious and more difficult to capture than the other four. Foods rich in umami have a satisfying, almost addictive quality, foods lacking it taste watery, thin. When you are cooking something and you find that something is missing, but you can’t quite put your finger on what, likely you’re missing some umami. A bit of parmesan, some ground up anchovies, some tomato paste or a dash of soy sauce - depending on which cuisine you’re dealing with - will usually do the trick. Continue reading »