Umami is a taste, in the same way that sweet, sour, salty and bitter are tastes. But what does this somewhat exotic word mean?

It’s essentially a pleasant 'brothy' or 'meaty' taste – umami literally means “ a pleasant savoury taste” in Japanese.

Umami was properly identified in 1908 by Kikunae Ikeda, a scientist at Tokyo Imperial University.

He found that glutamate (a building block of protein) was responsible for the palatability of kombu dashi, a seaweed-based broth, but that its taste was distinct from sweet, sour, bitter and salty.

In 1913, a disciple of Ikeda, Shintaro Kodama, discovered that dried, smoked bonito fish contained another umami substance – ribonucleotide, a molecular structure that was later also found to be present in shiitake mushrooms.

Kodama found that when foods rich in glutamate are combined with ingredients that have ribonucleotides, the resulting taste is more intense than the sum of both ingredients.

In other words, umami is not a thing in itself, but a chemical reaction that produces a taste that satisfies in a different way to which each of the ingredients in a dish could.

Where do we find the elements of Umami ?

• Umami is common to fish, shellfish, cured meats
• Vegetables such as mushrooms, ripe tomatoes, Chinese cabbage and spinach
• Green tea
• Fermented and aged products such as cheeses, shrimp pastes, soya sauce and Marmite
• Interestingly, our first encounter of umami is in breast milk, which contains roughly the same amount of umami as a “meaty” flavoured soup.

Who uses Umami?

• The Japanese make stock with kombu seaweed and dried bonito flakes
• The Chinese add Chinese leek and cabbage to chicken soup
• The Italians combine Parmesan and tomato sauce with mushrooms

The combination of these ingredients (at a chemical level) mixed together surpasses the taste of each one alone. This produces the umami taste sensation.

What are the implications of umami in cooking?

Mastering the art of umami means that more delicate and lighter dishes can be made to create satiety - the feeling that you've eaten enough and that you've eaten the right things.

Feeling full and that you’ve eaten the right things meant that we are more likely to portion sizes and with that an awareness of what we are eating.

Because umami creates a complete taste, no extra salt has to be added since this would change the taste from umami to salty.

Similarly, less fat needs to be used in umami cooking since the taste umami already encapsulates a savoury and mouthwatering taste.

See how chef Luke-Dale Roberts has embraces umami in his cooking