The Secret Of The
Restaurant Boom
Even without knowing what it
is, Indians have become a nation of umami lovers. Umami is the key to creating
popular dishes
I have
a theory about why certain kinds of cuisines have taken off in India over the
last few decades. My theory explains the current restaurant boom. And it
captures an important change in the taste preferences of Indians. Or so I am
convinced. The problem is that it is just my own theory. I haven’t read this
anywhere. And nor have I met a food scientist who has done any work in this
area. But, for what it is worth, here’s my theory, anyway. At the centre of my
thesis is umami. For a long time we believed that there were only four primary
tastes: salty, sweet, bitter and sour. Then, in 1909, a Japanese scientist
announced that he had discovered a fifth taste, which he called umami. Prof
Ikeda was the scientist and he was able to link the taste of umami to glutamate
(an amino acid).
Unfortunately,
unlike the four basic tastes which are easy to sense, umami is subtler and
works best when used in combination with other tastes such as saltiness or
sweetness. Not only does it have a character of its own, it can also enhance
the other basic tastes.
Prof
Ikeda found umami in dashi, the basic Japanese stock and later, other
scientists listed foods that contained umami. The obvious ones were soya sauce,
dried shiitake mushrooms, tomato paste, Parmesan cheese and Marmite. Scientists
concluded that umami was more potent in foods that were preserved or fermented.
Fresh tomatoes have umami, but the taste is most noticeable when you cook with
tomatoes or dry them or make a paste. Similarly, fresh porcini and shiitake
mushrooms contain umami but the dried versions have much more. The idea of
umami found instant acceptance in the East. The Japanese and Chinese used lots
of soya sauce and dried mushrooms so they had no difficulty in understanding
what Ikeda had discovered. They were delighted when Prof Ikeda isolated the
chemical that caused the taste sensation in umami and worked to stabilise it.
Ikeda mixed it with salt and water and created a new compound he called
Ajinomoto (or “essence of taste”) which, he patented. All over the Far East –
Japan, China, Thailand, Korea etc. – Ajinomoto became an instant success.
People began adding a pinch of it to all foods to impart an umami flavour.
While
Western foods contained umami, the idea did not find favour with Western
scientists, who denied that umami was a basic taste. Their objections were only
dismissed relatively recently when researchers found taste receptors for umami
on our tongues.
Now,
nobody seriously disputes that a) umami is the fifth basic taste and b) that it
can enhance many flavours. Manufacturers will routinely add Ajinomoto (or
Monosodium Glutamate to use the technical name) to many packaged snack foods
across cuisines. Ajinomoto is an additive and therefore, different from
naturally occurring glutamate in foods. But it is extracted from natural
ingredients and is no more than the concentrated glutamate content of these
ingredients. What does all this have to do with us in India? Well, one of the
few great cuisines that does not use too many umami flavours is ours. We don’t
usually use Parmesan, soya sauce, dried mushrooms, dashi, chicken stock or any
of his usual constituents of umami in the Indian kitchen.
So,
for centuries, Indians have not enjoyed umami flavours. They have been outside
our taste profile.
VIR SANGHAVI
HTBR24JUN18
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