Characterised at the beginning of the 20th century in Japan, umami literally means “delicious taste” or “tasty taste”. Umami flavour was accepted as one of the five basic tastes at the beginning of the 2000s, on the basis of its detection by the taste receptors present within the patches of tissue or papillae on our tongue. Umami’s distinctive, savoury flavour is mainly produced by certain amino acids that make up proteins, including glutamic acid or its salt form, glutamate (sodium).
Umami has a unique characteristic: a phenomenon of synergy. This means that the flavour of glutamate is drastically increased by certain compounds found in certain foods or ingredients such as bonito – a cousin of tuna – dried (katsuobushi) or yeast extracts.
