Umami

Post your recipe requests and cooking questions in this setion. Not for general discussions.
Smokey
Posts: 5958
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:47 pm
Location: Terranora- Tweed

Umami

Post by Smokey »

The so called fifth taste sense.
Every now and then I feel I get a grasp of what it is but then cannot see the differance from it just being a well rounded savoury (salt) with some mouth feel thrown in.
If trees screamed when we cut them down, We wouldn't. If they screamed all the time we would.
http://www.aussiecue.com.au
beermee
Posts: 406
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2010 9:27 pm

Umami

Post by beermee »

Yes, it's a tricky one. I always think of it as the depth or meatiness of the dish - and I don't mean actual meat, when I use the term 'meatiness'.

Eg. Mushrooms can provide the depth/meatiness to a stock/sauce/meal.

I too, struggle with nailing down the exact taste of umami, but I get the concept I think...?

Rgds
Gary
Note that: Gary is posting on the Aussie BBQ Forum as: 'SmokeKingBBQs' (as a vendor) and 'beermee' (as a personal account)

Image
Zorba
Posts: 521
Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2013 4:12 pm

Re: Umami

Post by Zorba »

i always thought it was more of a texture than a taste. probably some pretentious smart arse decided that he would be a revolutionary coming up with a new "taste" when in essense all he has done is given a way to describe how gross a mushroom is.
Nath
Posts: 2095
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2013 1:15 am
Location: Perth WA

Umami

Post by Nath »

Zorba wrote:i always thought it was more of a texture than a taste. probably some pretentious smart arse decided that he would be a revolutionary coming up with a new "taste" when in essense all he has done is given a way to describe how gross a mushroom is.
Mate, I'm not going to stand for all this slagging of mushroom. It's not on, ;) :D. You don't know what your missing out on!
Does umami have anything to do with the satisfaction of eating the food? By that I mean, the harder the meal to eat, the more satisfaction, e.g eating periwinkles you have to pick each one out with a toothpick, I always thought that had something to do with umami however that may be something else I am think of?


Nath
Nath
Smokey
Posts: 5958
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:47 pm
Location: Terranora- Tweed

Re: Umami

Post by Smokey »

What I do know is its what I crave most often.
Bit like spinage and Ricotta. By themselves their quite bland.
Mix them together and wrap in pastry / bake and you have a "Flavour"
Doing some reading on it basicly points to MSG, A natural ingreedient that mushrooms are full of.
Im thinking that responsible use of MSG aint such a bad thing.
Its had a bad wrap in Chinese food (Western Chinese food) But only because that food is so full of fat and sugar, people get stodged on it and blame the MSG
If trees screamed when we cut them down, We wouldn't. If they screamed all the time we would.
http://www.aussiecue.com.au
Bentley
Posts: 2549
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2009 2:18 pm
Location: Culpeper, Virginia USA
Contact:

Re: Umami

Post by Bentley »

As I recall from my food History, the word is derived from the work of a Japanese professor working with glutamate at the turn of the 20th century, and who isolated and identified MSG I believe. I agree, to me, it is just another description for savory!
Burnt By The Best
Competition BBQ Team

Fresno State University
Go Dogs!

Image
Al_
Posts: 216
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2010 9:26 pm
Location: Darwin

Re: Umami

Post by Al_ »

Bentley wrote:As I recall from my food History, the word is derived from the work of a Japanese professor working with glutamate at the turn of the 20th century, and who isolated and identified MSG I believe. I agree, to me, it is just another description for savory!
Correct. not may people realise that MSG is relatively new and was developed in Japan. It definately is not traditional chinese.
Smokey Mick wrote:What I do know is its what I crave most often.
Bit like spinage and Ricotta. By themselves their quite bland.
Mix them together and wrap in pastry / bake and you have a "Flavour"
Doing some reading on it basicly points to MSG, A natural ingreedient that mushrooms are full of.
Im thinking that responsible use of MSG aint such a bad thing.
Its had a bad wrap in Chinese food (Western Chinese food) But only because that food is so full of fat and sugar, people get stodged on it and blame the MSG
yeah glutamates occour naturally in lots of food. Soy sauce, asian fish sauce, even vegemite.
MSG does deserve its bad wrap though. It is what is called an exitotoxin and one of the things it does is stimulate insulin to be released into the bloodstream. Once released insulin must do it's thing and that is give sugars to celss for energy or if no cells want the energy it is stored as fat. if there is more insulin than required this leads to low blood sugars, which will then make you hungry.

so you can see how this cause weight gain, and why sometimes you feel hungry after eating a crap load of chinese food.

I think it is singapore which has banned its use in school lunches because of its role in obesity.
urbangriller
Posts: 9453
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 8:46 pm
Location: Perth WA

Re: Umami

Post by urbangriller »

Hi Mick,

I started writing an article on Umami for Storyque a few weeks back, not the easiest thing to desribe, I'm still strugling with it.!

Our first taste of Umami comes in Mothers Milk along with our first taste of sweet, salty and sour! In fact it is "Bitter" that is missing from our first taste experience. Umami is a flavour rollercoaster, not just a taste, an experience! Glutamate receptors on the tongue pick up Umami it is naturally found in foods, such as soy sauce and fish sauce, parmesan cheese, anchovies and ripe tomatoes. It is also abundant in seafood, such as lobster, crabs, and shrimp.

So, what does all this mean to BBQ? Well, in our limited vocabulary, Umami is best described as a “Meaty” or “Mushroomy” taste, so Umami is BBQ!
In BBQ we strive for an intense Umami taste, we try to avoid Sour and Bitter, but Sweet and Salty are occasional allies, but Umami is the Star! Umami is defiantly something you want in your BBQ, that wisp of smoke spice, the haunting indescribable sensations provided by the Maillard reaction (the caramelisation on grilled meat) and a thousand other things.


Cheers
Chris
Common Sense is so rare these days it should be a Super Power!
Smokey
Posts: 5958
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:47 pm
Location: Terranora- Tweed

Re: Umami

Post by Smokey »

Interesting.
I just got back from coles armed with gravy beef, bonox, pearl barley, Mushrooms and other vege.
Time to drag out the potje.
All this talk has got me craving umami :lol:
If trees screamed when we cut them down, We wouldn't. If they screamed all the time we would.
http://www.aussiecue.com.au
Bob S
Posts: 33
Joined: Thu Oct 01, 2015 9:34 pm

Re: Umami

Post by Bob S »

I often rub anchovy paste onto brisket or pork butt to enhance the flavor. Anchovy paste is very high on the list of umami flavor enhancers. Once the meat is cooked, there is no fishy taste.
Bob S
Buzabbq
Posts: 101
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2015 10:14 pm

Re: Umami

Post by Buzabbq »

I associate the term moreish with Umami.
That food that tastes so good you cant seem to stop eating.
Image
O2zi3
Posts: 46
Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2014 1:53 pm

Re: Umami

Post by O2zi3 »

umami is MSG....nothing wrong with that, except i cant find where to buy it...its integral to KFC recipe....who doesnt love KFC? (if u dont, then what u doing on BBQ forum?)
steinyboys
Posts: 147
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2015 9:23 am
Location: Melbourne

Re: Umami

Post by steinyboys »

MSG can be bought at any Asian grocery store comes in 250g and 500 g bags its white powder
Image
Weber Kettle 57cm, Weber Smokey Joe, Hark Gas smoker,ProQ Excel Elite 20
chrisg
Posts: 782
Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2013 7:21 pm
Location: Perth WA

Re: Umami

Post by chrisg »

O2zi3 wrote:umami is MSG....nothing wrong with that, except i cant find where to buy it...its integral to KFC recipe....who doesnt love KFC? (if u dont, then what u doing on BBQ forum?)
:)

Probably more interested in REAL food ? :)

MSG is a very controversial thing, probably a part of the umami aspect but if that is the case then it becomes controversial because the other taste sensations do not have negative affects on people that I am aware of.

I have WAY too many friends who unknowingly exposed to MSG are blown off their feet to doubt that side-effect - it does not affect me but those prone to migraines need to stay well away from it.

Cheers
urbangriller
Posts: 9453
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2008 8:46 pm
Location: Perth WA

Re: Umami

Post by urbangriller »

O2zi3 wrote:umami is MSG....nothing wrong with that, except i cant find where to buy it...its integral to KFC recipe....who doesnt love KFC? (if u dont, then what u doing on BBQ forum?)
MSG is only one form of Glutimate, Umami describes the taste of glutimates. Glutimates are found in a number of foods throughout history (Before MSG) including back to the Romans who had a fermented anchovy "Sauce".
Common Sense is so rare these days it should be a Super Power!
Post Reply