Sunday 23 March 2014

Understanding Umami

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A long time ago, only four tastes ruled the culinary world: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. But in the late 1800s, a European chef (Auguste Escoffier) and a Japanese chemist (Kikunae Ikeda) both discovered the existence of a fifth taste - umami - abundantly present in their bowls of rich veal stock and earthy dashi.

Umami can be translated as 'pleasant savory taste.' And while society called it pure imagination, a hundred or so years later, science prevailed - and umami was officially added to the taste roster.

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