Another Daily Mail article, on bottled 'deliciousness,' a secret ingredient, until now, only known in Japanese as umami and in Michelin-starred restaurants. A 'fifth taste' in addition to the four known in the West as salty, bitter, sweet, and sour, it is known to make anything taste terrific:
"And pretty soon you will be able to add it to absolute everything as tubes of the wonder stuff go on sale in 197 branches of Waitrose for £2.99 a tube.
Named Taste No 5, evoking the added allure of a high-class perfume, it triggers the sensation of delight in the brain when at least one of the primary tastes of sweet, sour, bitter and salty is also present.
Food writer Laura Santtini, who developed the purée, said: 'I wanted to get away from the notion that umami is something of interest to scientists that no one else can really understand.
'The truth is that umami should be of interest to anyone who has a tongue.
'Umami is part of our everyday eating lives, it is just that many of us don't know what to call it. It is what gives depth of flavour to food."
I think we also know 'deliciousness' as MSG. The article continues:
"The umami revolution began in 1908 when Tokyo chemist Kikunae Ikeda identified it as a flavour present in foods high in glutamate.
He had first been alerted by the distinctive taste of seaweed, or kombu, which itself is high in the chemical.
His work led him to crystallise monosodium glutamate (MSG), the controversial flavour enhancer which has since become famous all over the world.
Then in 2000 researchers at the University of Miami discovered the tongue had taste receptors dedicated to sensing glutamate, which signals the presence of proteins in food that the body needs.
The opportunities presented by umami have since been exploited by the restaurant world and celebrity chefs including Heston Blumenthal who purposefully plates up dishes brimming with umami at his Fat Duck restaurant in Bray, Berkshire."
So I guess Chinese-Restaurant-Syndrome (CRS) isn't necessarily restricted to Chinese restaurants and cuisine. Deliciousness is everywhere!
0 comments:
Post a Comment