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UMAMI: Putting taste into
the fifth gear
history and
facts
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detail
detail
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Traditional
Ingredients
A large number of the
world's population regularly eat fermented fish and
like it! In the Mediterranean region, salt cured
anchovy has been used extensively as a flavoring
agent since the Roman era. Throughout costal Asia,
fish sauce is used as a primary food seasoning.
Why? Because when used correctly in sparring
amounts, the functional umami compounds in these
seasonings appeal to your 5th taste sense...your
"protein tooth".
Essential
Tastes
Your five senses of taste
help you acquire foods that are necessary for your
survival. Your "sweet tooth" motivates you to like
high calorie sweet foods. Your taste for salt helps
you get your necessary salt requirement so you can
maintain your osmotic balance. Sour and bitter
tastes trigger an avoidance reaction because many
strongly acid or alkali natural products are
hazardous. So what's left? You have to eat your MDR
of essential amino acids in order to remain
healthy. Your "protein tooth" likes the taste of
free amino acids because they are good for
you.
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Synergism
There are two main
categories of umami substances: Amino acids like
MSG and nucleotides such as IMP and GMP. Many
common foods such as tomatoes, eggs, seafoods and
especially fermented ones like cheese, fish
products and soy sauce contain active umami
substances. It's important to note that various
active umami substances are synergistic. That is,
when they used in combination, their delicious
umami taste is greatly amplified.
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Nutritional
Homeostasis
What's most amazing is that
umami synergism helps you main nutritional
homeostasis. In other words, your taste for umami
drives your towards eating a balanced diet.
Combining foods from different food groups
amplifies umami's deliciousness. For example, umami
substances in aged meats and fish make vegetables
taste better. Or, take the glutamates found in your
tomato based pasta sauces and combine them with the
protein in your meatballs. Add a dash of aged
cheese and the carbohydrates in the pasta and
wham,
you get both an extra delicious umami taste and a
fairly balanced meal!
If you want to push it up a notch,
make a marinara by adding a touch of anchovy and
enjoy the umami that the natural assortment of
nucleotides will provide. Certain mushrooms add
other nucleotides that synergise for extra
savoriness. The same goes for the traditional Asian
stir-fry of meat, vegetables, mushrooms and fish or
soy sauce
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Caesar meets
Umami
The taste of umami is hard
to recognize, but easy to enjoy. A Caesar salad or
dressing is the perfect example. Caesar's are the
most popular dressings in restaurants. Most
Americans don't know it, but they're going for the
umami! Umami is known to make relatively tasteless
green vegetables, like lettuce become more
appealing. The aged cheeses provide a considerable
amount of glutamate. Anchovy, used in very small
quantities provide functional amounts of
nucleotides. Throw in some egg protein and bam, you
have the ultimate synergistic umami
concoction.
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Ethnic food trends and
Umami
Ethnic foods are now
becoming very trendy. Recipes calling for
traditional fermented fish sauce and pastes are
showing up regularly in food sections of small
hometown newspapers. The food editors might not
know much about these products (and often find them
culturally objectionable) but know they taste good.
That's because they are ultimate natural umami
seasonings.
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Nutritional and scientific journals
continue to address the new 5th taste sense down to the
molecular level. What they are finding is that umami rich
foods taste good because they are good for you. Fish sauce
and anchovy are fermented protein products. During the salt
cure, the protein breaks down into a wide variety of free
amino acids and nucleotides. This assortment of active
compounds provides a rich full umami taste and nutritional
benefits that other products cannot match.
Umami is here to
stay. The best way to learn what
it's all about is to put a dash Of Certified Savory product
in your favorite savory foods. Notice a difference? Now
you've experienced umami.
800-328-7656
| 5315 Dansher Rd. Countryside, IL 60525 |
info@certifiedsavory.com
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