THE TASTE THAT NACIE KNOWS
Did you know that humans are capable of recognizing 5 tastes? They are bitter, salty, sour, sweet and umami.
The latter is difficult to describe and identify, and is still unknown to the vast majority of people. But today we will explain what it is and where you can find it.
The word umami comes from Japanese and means "tasty". It derives from two words, umai (delicious) and mi (flavor), proposed by the Japanese Kikunae Ikeda, to refer to foods when they have a delicious, intense or pronounced flavor.
Although it has been around for a long time, knowledge of umami is relatively recent. As far back as ancient Rome, garum, a fermented fish sauce that enhanced the flavor, was used.
What is achieved with these foods is to enhance the flavor of the other ingredients used. It is believed that the fifth taste is perceived in the widest part of the tongue, towards the center, while the sweet taste is perceived in certain areas of the tip of the tongue and the bitter taste in the back.
Today there are many foods that contain umami, but there is also a product that is umami in almost pure form, namely ajinomoto or monosodium glutamate, popularly known as MSG.
This product is widely used in Asian cuisine and can be purchased in powder form, although it can also be found in a wide variety of foods such as:
Cheese
Ripe tomatoes
Dried tomatoes
Soy sauce
How does it enhance the flavor of recipes?
What umami does is to enhance the flavor of other ingredients. For example, if we make a chicken broth and add a little soy sauce or shiitake, the broth will not be saltier, but will have more flavor.
Umami is also the combination of different ingredients, such as the combination of cheese and tomato, which together taste much more delicious.
This happens for chemical reasons: the food contains glutamate which, in combination with foods with ribonucleotides, causes the respective flavors to multiply.
Endorsed by health authorities
In early 2017, the European Commission reported, following a request for a ban on this additive, that its use "meets the conditions set by EU legislation on food additives and that it does not represent a health hazard." Chemically, monosodium glutamate is a salt consisting of a mineral, sodium, and an amino acid, glutamic acid.
As mentioned above, this amino acid is found naturally in many foods, and in some of them in significant amounts (cheese or soy sauce). According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the glutamic acid contained in monosodium glutamate and that found naturally in foods are chemically indistinguishable.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a re-evaluation of the use of monosodium glutamate. One of the novelties is the application of an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI), which until now did not exist, of 30 mg/kg body weight, well below the dose at which adverse effects such as headache or high blood pressure occur.
In its review, EFSA has asked the European Commission to revise the maximum permitted levels in foods that contribute most to the ADI, such as bakery products, sauces and soups, as well as dressings, condiments and meat products.
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