Have you heard of umami? I have been hearing a lot about it lately…
It is considered to be the fifth taste after sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. It can unofficially be described as “a savory, pleasant taste”
Well, I’ve decided I must be a umami addict…
I describe it as the perfect combination of flavors that excite your taste buds and is totally satisfying. You can actually keep the calorie count down because a little goes a long way~
The concept of umami is best explained by listing foods that impart a umami flavor experience. Intensely flavored foods such as Parmesan cheese, mushrooms, soy sauce, cured pork, anchovies and tomatoes all bring the fifth taste, umami, to your palette
Like this Ham Tetrazzini with Mushrooms and Asparagus here
Beef and beef stock, sharp cheeses such as cheddar, Gruyere and blue, are also umami type foods, as well as tomatoes and ketchup. This might explain craving a bacon burger dressed with tomatoes and a side of fries with ketchup…all American comfort food, like this Steakhouse Burger here
or a Bloody Mary with BLT skewers here after a late night out
How about a Steak with Bleu Cheese Sauce here
Umami is also very prevalent in Asian food, Hoisin Sauce is the flavor maker for these Slow Cooker Asian Short Ribs here
Umami is probably why I love to smother everything in Parmesan cheese
Like these Parmesan Crusted Vegetable Fries here and this Antipasto Flatbread here
Buried Treasure Biscuit Bites are chock full of umami, a tasty side dish or appetizer
and I usually find a way to get umami into my salad too~like this Bacon Wrapped Pear Salad here
So what do you think, are you a umami addict too?
Juicy Details
for the Valentine recipes pictured in the feature photo at the beginning of this post and below see Man Bait here
You can read more about umami on Wikipedia here
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