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umami
[oo-MAH-mee]

In the Western world, it’s long been accepted that there are four elements of taste—sweet, salty, sour, and bitter, all of which are identified on various parts of the tongue. For centuries, Asian cultures have included a fifth taste—hot. However, in 1908, Tokyo Imperial University researcher Kikunae Ikeda identified a fifth taste that was decidedly more complex than “hot.” He called this fifth taste sensation “umami,” a word that has no exact English translation, but which may be loosely interpreted as “delicious” or “savory” —the essence of flavor, another dimension. Ikeda concluded that, of the five tastes, umami and sweetness were the only two the palate perceives as singularly pleasant. He also determined that foods exhibiting this umami sensation had one common denominator—the amino acid L-glutamate—monosodium glutamate, better known as MSG. The fifth taste was recently legitimized when University of Miami scientists Charles Zuker and Charles Ryber discovered specific taste-bud receptors that identify amino acids. L-glutamate can be found in high-protein foods such as consommés, aged meats, shitake mushrooms, dried seaweed, shellfish (clams, scallops, shrimp), soy sauce, and tomatoes. But, compared to the other four tastes, umami is exceedingly subtle, personifying more as an overall distinctive palate sensation than a taste. As with the other four tastes of sweet, salty, sour, and bitter, umami in food can affect a wine’s flavor elements. According to Master of Wine Tim Hanni, who conducted food and wine pairing classes at Beringer Vineyards for over a decade, a dish that adversely affects a wine’s taste is typically high in either sweetness or umami, both of which heighten a wine’s TANNIN, bringing out bitterness and sometimes a metallic quality. For example, a marinara-sauced shrimp dish is high in both sweetness (from the tomatoes) and umami (from the shrimp). But adding salt and lemon juice to the sauce (to balance the umami and sweetness respectively) puts the entire dish in the right perspective for a moderately tannic red wine. In the end, a few simple adjustments is all it takes to bring a high-umami dish and the wine into harmony. 
Related Links: tannins
© Copyright Barron's Educational Services, Inc.
1995 based on THE WINE LOVER'S COMPANION,
by Ron Herbst and Sharon Tyler Herbst.

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