The time has now come to take a little tour of the various ways in which we can tease out umami in our own kitchens. To do so, we have included a number of recipes for both traditional and modern dishes that are made from selected raw ingredients treated in such a way as to take advantage of every last bit of umami in them. First, though, we will make a quick detour to discover some easy tricks for enhancing the taste of foodstuffs that may not be very savory on their own by adding certain readily available products to the dish.
The simplest way to impart umami is by adding MSG, which is sometimes marketed as ‘the third spice’, the other two being salt and pepper. In its pure form, it is incorporated in many industrially prepared foods to improve their taste.
Many studies have been undertaken to determine how the tastes of different raw ingredients and dishes are affected by the addition of MSG powder or crystals. These have been inconclusive in a number of cases, with no agreement about the outcomes. Nevertheless, we can outline some common general characteristics.
Here is an overview of how MSG can be used. The taste of both raw and cooked vegetables can be enhanced by the addition of very small quantities of MSG (less than 0.5 percent); it has a pronounced effect on carrots and cauliflower. MSG can also lessen the unpleasant taste impressions made by completely raw meat and some raw vegetables, especially an earthy taste in the latter. It brings out savory tastes in dishes with meat, fish, and shellfish, as well as in soups and stews. It would also appear that MSG can improve the taste of foods that have been frozen—in particular, oily fish, ham, and pork sausages. In foodstuffs with a certain sugar content, MSG and umami can help to lessen the taste of bitter substances, if any are present. On the other hand, there is no point in putting MSG on fruits or in fruit juices, sweet baked goods, dairy products, and prepared cereal products, as it does not alter their taste.
There is little doubt that the bad reputation attached to the use of MSG can be attributed to the rapid industrialization of food production that really took off in the 1960s. It was used to help companies turn out products of highly variable quality, where lack of taste was due to ingredients of inferior quality or overly rough handling to preserve them. More recently, the obsession with adopting a leaner diet has led to our banishing from the dinner table many fats, which contribute greatly to overall deliciousness and mouthfeel. One way to compensate for their loss is to add more umami, and here MSG can play a role.
How MSG is listed on food labels and whether it is deemed to be a food additive or a taste enhancer varies from one country to another. Given that umami derived from MSG has now gained recognition as a basic taste, however, it seems a little misleading to single it out in this way. Based on the extensive research that has been carried out on monosodium glutamate, it is one of the additives granted the status of “generally recognized as safe” by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Similarly, the European Union, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, and the World Health Organization have all declared MSG to be harmless under normal circumstances and when used properly for its intended purpose.
Glutamic acid and its other salts in their pure form are considered by most regulatory agencies to be food additives and must be listed as such. These rules also apply to sources of synergistic umami, the nucleotides, such as sodium inosinate, potassium inosinate, and calcium inosinate.
There is, however, a long list of substances other than pure MSG that are sources of umami. Faced with a growing movement on the part of many consumers to avoid foods that incorporate any of these so-called chemicals, manufacturers have had to find other ways to add glutamate. One solution is to incorporate appropriately treated protein-rich ingredients that are classified as food rather than as food additives. Often these are in the form of what are known as hydrolyzed proteins, from either animals or plants, and yeast extracts, all of which contain considerable quantities of free glutamate. Depending on the jurisdiction, these may be identified by their common or usual names.
The most widely used of these protein additives are derived from plant material with an abundance of glutamate, such as soybeans, and from yeast. For vegetables, the usual process is hydrolysis, which can be carried out with the help of a strong acid to release glutamic acid and glutamate from their proteins. Yeast is broken down by autolysis, a process in which the enzymes found in the yeast itself are used to rupture the cell walls. The resultant product is called yeast extract.
There are, in fact, quite a few well-established products, introduced long before detailed food labeling became mandatory, that depend on hydrolyzed proteins and yeast extracts for their intense umami tastes. Some of the best known are Marmite from Britain, Vegemite from Australia, Maggi sauce from Switzerland, soy sauce, and various fish sauces. They are all full of free glutamate, but as they are made from natural ingredients, its presence is not explicitly spelled out in their nutritional information.
Proteins can be broken down with the assistance of enzymes, which cleave the proteins into smaller entities such as peptides and free amino acids. The process is called hydrolysis because it involves the use of water, the H2O molecules of which are split apart in the course of the reaction. A strong, inorganic acid is often used as a catalyst and then recovered after the hydrolysis has run its course by neutralizing it with a strong base. Raw ingredients sourced from both vegetables and animals are hydrolyzed to release free glutamate.
The most commonly used sources of hydrolyzed vegetable protein are soybeans, corn, and wheat. Animal hydrolyzed protein is sometimes made from milk protein (casein) or from whey proteins derived from cheese production.
Industrially produced soy sauce is, fundamentally, a solution of hydrolyzed vegetable proteins.
The hydrolyzed protein products are purified and typically end up with a 5–20 percent content of free amino acids, for example, in the form of MSG.
The imperative of providing enough nutrition and tasty food for the population as a whole left its mark on the early industrialization of food production, directing its attention toward taste enhancers, with umami at the forefront. The three products described here are prime examples of products that were invented to answer these needs and are still popular many decades later.
In the 1870s, John Lawson Johnston, a Scotsman living at the time in Canada, developed one of the first mass-produced taste enhancers, a beef extract with a strong, salty taste. He came up with the idea in response to the contract he had been awarded to procure preserved meat for Napoleon III’s army, whose troops could not fight on an empty stomach during the Franco-Prussian War. But as Johnston was unable to secure a sufficient supply of meat, he invented a sort of ‘liquid beef,’ which he called Bovril, a name derived partly from the Latin word for beef (bos). It is sold to this day as a thick, dark paste. It can be spread on bread, used in soups, or diluted with boiling water to make a hot drink. Bovril was eaten by British troops during both the Boer War and World War II. It has also proven to be a boon for civilians. For more than a hundred years, British and Scottish soccer fans have warded off the cold in the stadiums by bringing along thermal flasks filled with hot Bovril beef tea. And it secured its place in history from the reports in the New York Times that the men of Ernest Shackleton’s 1916 expedition to the Antarctic fortified themselves with steaming cups of Bovril when they were marooned on Elephant Island and almost perished.
Advertisement for Bovril dating from 1907.
Unilever, which now owns this product, stopped using beef as the base in 2004 and started making it with yeast instead. It is quite likely that this change coincided with the fear prevalent at the time of contracting mad cow disease. Nevertheless, the manufacturer switched back a few years later, although the variety made from yeast extracts, suitable for vegans and vegetarians, remains available.
In Western countries, the best-known and currently most widely used specialty food with an abundance of umami is probably Marmite, which first saw the light of day in 1902. In some senses, Marmite can be considered a parallel product to Bovril. It was developed at Burton upon Trent, the site of what was then England’s largest brewery, Bass Brewery, and a source of large quantities of yeast, a by-product of the beer-making process. The famous German chemist Justus von Liebig (1803–1873) had earlier discovered that brewer’s yeast could be converted into a useful, nutritious substance. Based on his findings, the Gilmour family set up a factory to take advantage of the excess brewer’s yeast that would otherwise have been discarded. The yeast is hydrolyzed to release its free glutamate content, which is then mixed with salt, vegetable extracts, and other ingredients to produce a dark brown, sticky paste with a strong, salty taste.
About 2 percent of Marmite (1,960 mg/100 g) is made up of free glutamate, giving it an intense umami taste. In addition, as it has significant quantities of vitamin B, including folic acid (B9) and B12, the paste is a good source of this vital nutrient. After vitamins were first discovered and described scientifically in the early 1900s, Marmite quickly gained popularity. Beriberi, a disease caused by vitamin B deficiency, had been common in Britain during World War I, and Marmite was embraced as a way to prevent it. Its nutritional content was the very justifiable basis for a later marketing campaign that promoted the spread as a source of sufficient vitamin B to keep nerves, brain, and digestion in proper working order.
Marmite is used more or less in the same way as Bovril, often spread thinly on toasted, buttered bread or made into a drink. Whatever the nutritional merits of Marmite, its palatability evokes strong opinions one way or another, and it is definitely an acquired taste. Its fans defend it passionately, while others think that it is disgusting and inedible. The manufacturer capitalized on these reactions a number of years ago, launching a marketing campaign with the slogan “Love It or Hate It.”
Another similar product, Vegemite, which has gained the status of a national icon in its home country of Australia, followed a couple of decades later. The name draws attention to its vegetable content, to which autolyzed brewer’s yeast is added. In 2009 the parent company, Kraft Foods, attempted to increase the appeal of this traditional product to the younger generation by rebranding it iSnack. The experiment was met with great resistance by the customer base and was quickly abandoned.
There are, naturally, other related pastes that are more locally based, among these Promite and AussieMite in Australia and Cenovis in Switzerland. True connoisseurs are aware of the subtle taste and texture differences that set them apart from each other.
Bovril, Marmite, and Vegemite, protein-rich products with tons of umami.
Yeast is an important component in many products, including bread and beer. Yeast cells can be burst open by placing them in a salt solution, causing them to swell up so that the stiff cell walls break apart. Heat is used to break the cell walls down even further. Yeast extract consists of the remaining contents of the yeast cells after the pieces of cell wall are removed.
Yeast extract has a substantial quantity of free glutamate, which is formed when the cells’ own enzymes break down the proteins after the cells have ruptured, a process known as autolysis. Additional glutamate can be released by adding enzymes from other sources.
Flakes of nutritional yeast.
Another source of umami from yeast is known as nutritional yeast, made up of flakes of dried, inactive yeast. It is produced from ordinary baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) that is cultivated on a substrate of molasses from sugarcane or sugar beets. The yeast, along with its enzymes, is deactivated—that is to say, killed—by warming it, followed by washing and drying. The finished product is in the form of a yellowish powder or small flakes.
Nutritional yeast is quite distinct from yeast extract, which is much darker and has a much stronger taste. While nutritional yeast is also a source of glutamate, the total amount is less than that of yeast extract, but it has an abundance of vitamin B and of all the important amino acids.
Many Americans have experienced the amazing effect of nutritional yeast together with salt sprinkled on warm popcorn. Some movie theatres even have it available in shakers as an alternative topping, instead of butter. The umami in the yeast combines well with that in the corn.
Nutritional yeast has a nutty, creamy taste, somewhat like Parmesan cheese, which is why it is often used by vegans as a cheese substitute. It is easy to emulsify nutritional yeast in cold water or other liquids, making it suitable for use in dressings. The taste and consistency of such dressings resembles that of one made with white miso. Dressing with nutritional yeast
Nutritional yeast is also jokingly called hippie dust. Appropriately, this recipe comes from an old hippie café in Florida that was popular with vegetarians and vegans.
10 g (¾ Tbsp) nutritional yeast flakes
¾ dL (⅓ c) lemon juice
½ dL (¼ c) tamari soy sauce
½ dL (¼ c) grape seed oil
¼ dL (⅛ c) apple cider vinegar
½ tsp dried thyme or basil
freshly ground black pepper
Mix all of the ingredients together. The herbs can be replaced by flakes of dried sea lettuce. To make a lighter dressing without oil, just mix the yeast flakes with rice vinegar, cooking sake, and small flakes of sea lettuce.
When umami derived from meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products is not an option, one must, like the Buddhist monks who invented the vegetarian temple cuisine shōjin ryōri, have recourse to plants and fungi. Obvious sources are dried fungi, which have both glutamate and nucleotides; fermented soybean products, such as soy sauce, miso, and fermented tofu; or fermented wheat protein, such as seitan. The easiest way, of course, is to make use of hydrolyzed vegetable protein, yeast extract, and nutritional yeast.
neutral-tasting oil, for deep-frying
eggplants, preferably the firm, long, and thin Japanese variety
cloves garlic, crushed
anchovy paste
nutritional yeast
panko bread crumbs
1. Heat the oil in a large, deep pot over medium-high heat until hot. Preheat the oven broiler.
2. Slice the eggplants in half lengthwise and deep-fry them in the hot oil until they are done through. Allow to cool.
3. Score a diamond pattern into the cut sides of the eggplants and rub them with the crushed garlic. Then spread the anchovy paste on them. Make a half-and-half mixture of nutritional yeast and panko bread crumbs and sprinkle that on top.
4. Broil until the surface is golden.
Ketchup is a purée made from sun-ripened tomatoes. Many households in the Western world have a bottle of ketchup in the kitchen, where it is one of the most frequently used umami enhancers. Although ketchup is often associated with American fast food, such as hamburgers and fries, its roots are actually to be found in the Far East and Indonesia, where it was first fermented as a special type of salty, spicy fish sauce. The origin of the name is unknown, but a variant of it is the name of the original Chinese fish sauce, koe-chiap, which refers to the brine in which fish and shellfish were marinated in China.
An American classic: Heinz tomato ketchup.
English sailors brought this Chinese fish sauce back to Europe, where over time the recipe evolved to incorporate fungi, anchovies, tomatoes, vinegar, walnuts, pickled vegetables, and a number of spices. The tomatoes were included to lend umami to what was otherwise a blend of salty, bitter, and sour tastes. Along the way, an increasing amount of sugar was added, rounding out the full complement of all five basic tastes.
Tomato ketchup in its more or less present form dates back to the beginning of the 1800s. The best-known version is Heinz ketchup, which was put on the market in 1876 and is still made according to the same recipe.
½ dL (¼ c) tomato cut into small cubes
½ dL (¼ c) cucumber cut into small cubes
12 oysters in their shells
½ shallot
1 dL (scant ½ c) dry white vermouth, such as Noilly Prat
2 dL (⅞ c) heavy cream
2–3 Tbsp bread crumbs, preferably panko
2–3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
pinch of smoked shrimp head powder
pinch of cayenne pepper
1. Blanch the tomatoes for a minute in boiling water and then skin them. Remove the seeds from both the tomatoes and the cucumber and then cut the pulp into small cubes.
2. Preheat the oven to 225ºC (425ºF). Open all the oysters and remove them from their shells. Set aside the liquid in the shells and return the oysters to the more curved half-shells. Place on a baking sheet.
3. Chop the shallot finely and place in a saucepan. Add the vermouth, and bring to a boil. Add the cream and reduce the liquid by about half. Add the liquid from the oysters to taste, and stir the tomato and cucumber cubes into the sauce.
4. Mix together the bread crumbs, nutritional yeast, shrimp head powder, and cayenne.
5. Distribute the sauce evenly around and on top of the oysters and sprinkle with the bread crumb mixture.
6. Broil until the crust is golden and the oysters are warm but still raw in the middle.
Anchovies and anchovy paste feature in many Italian dishes, as their significant glutamate and inosinate contents are an excellent source of umami. One has only to think of a Caesar salad to understand why anchovies are often added to sauces and dressings.
A good example of the intense umami that anchovies can impart is the Italian specialty bagna càuda, a sauce with a very robust taste from the Piedmont region. It is made from olive oil, garlic, cream or milk, and many anchovy fillets. Typically, the sauce can be used as a type of fondue or as a hot dip for a variety of raw and cooked vegetables, such as bell peppers, fennel, celery, cauliflower, artichokes, and onions. Bagna càuda
10 cloves garlic
4–5 dL (about 2 c) milk
200 g (7 oz) salted anchovy fillets
100 g (3½ oz) butter
2 dL (⅞ c) extra-virgin olive oil
2–3 Tbsp bread crumbs, preferably panko
freshly ground white pepper
1. Peel the garlic. Blanch the cloves for 1 minute in a little milk and water. Rinse under running water. Repeat this process two more times.
2. Bring 1½ dL (⅔ cup) milk (with no water) to a boil in a saucepan, and blanch the garlic one last time. Set aside the milk.
3. Soak the anchovy fillets for 10 minutes in cold water.
4. Mix together in a blender the garlic, anchovies, and butter while adding the olive oil in a steady stream.
5. Mix in the bread crumbs and season with the freshly ground white pepper.
6. Add sufficient warm milk from blanching the garlic to obtain the desired consistency.
7. Serve as a dip for raw vegetables or use as a sauce for fish or poultry.
Worcestershire sauce is basically a variety of fermented anchovy sauce and, consequently, is related to the classical Roman fish sauce, garum. It is a favorite taste enhancer in many Western kitchens. Even famous celebrity chefs will admit that they use this condiment in their creations.
Worcestershire sauce was first made commercially in Worcester, England, in 1837 by two apothecaries, John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins. It caught on quickly and its popularity spread to the colonies as well. Their original recipe was a closely guarded secret for more than 170 years, until 2009. By then, the Heinz food conglomerate had acquired the company, and a former employee at Lea & Perrins claimed to have found some old notes that revealed the hitherto-unknown ingredients in the recipe.
Worcestershire sauce from Lea & Perrins.
The content label of the modern product lists malt vinegar, spirit vinegar, molasses, sugar, salt, anchovies, tamarind extract, onions, garlic, spice, and flavors. As it turns out, the old notes identified the mysterious ‘spice and flavors’ as soy sauce, cloves, lemons, pickles, and pepper and indicated the correct proportions of each. What is still missing, however, is a description of how all the ingredients are mixed together. It is said that the workers at the now-defunct Lea & Perrins factory were not allowed to know precisely what was in the sauce, as the ingredients were given to them in code.
There are now several varieties of Worcestershire sauce; for example, there is one without anchovies for vegetarians and vegans.
Worcestershire sauce contains free glutamate (34 mg/100 g) and is commonly used to add umami to marinades, soups, meat dishes, and sauces. It is, of course, an indispensable ingredient in a Bloody Mary or a Bloody Caesar, combining with the tomato juice to turn them into the ultimate umami cocktails.
In 2010, the upscale British supermarket chain Waitrose launched, with little media fanfare, a new product that was to be the way to the fifth taste and instant umami: Taste No. 5. This trademarked name none too subtly channels that of a well-known perfume. The product is a brown paste sold in an old-fashioned, squeezable tube and described as a flavor bomb. Waitrose’s advertisements claim that with Taste No. 5 one can “transform even the blandest meals into something truly extraordinary.” The ingredients include Parmesan cheese, anchovies, black olives, tomato purée, porcini mushrooms, and balsamic vinegar, all of which contribute umami and interact synergistically with each other. So in a sense, Taste No. 5 can be said to be Mediterranean umami in a concentrated form. Another Taste No. 5 product has recently been launched based on Asian ingredients, including miso, yuzu, shiitake, soy sauce, and maccha.
Taste No. 5: a commercial umami paste.
Mushroom salt
Cut shiitake or other dark mushrooms into slices and dry them in an oven on low heat. Crush them into a powder and mix it with Maldon sea salt flakes.
Use to season fish, soups, vegetables, and pasta dishes.
Marinated mushrooms
Marinate mushrooms in a little soy sauce or garum.
Can be fried or used raw in salads.
Essence of Worcestershire sauce
Concentrated reduction of the sauce kept at the ready in a small bottle with an eyedropper.
Just add a couple of drops to meat that is being fried or to a sauce or a dressing. Rounds out the taste of a pâté or an egg dish.
Highly concentrated chicken bouillon
1 L (4¼ c) chicken stock reduced to 1 dL (½ c) or less.
Use as an essence in gravies that are a little flat or to add depth to a dressing, or drizzle on pasta or salads.
Miso paste
Light or dark paste made from fermented soybeans; available where Asian foods are sold.
Adds a nutty, savory taste to dressings, sauces, marinades, and soups (especially those with shellfish); or use it like butter to coat warm vegetables just before serving.
Anchovy paste
Available in a squeezable tube to keep in the refrigerator.
For all types of vinaigrettes, dressings, marinades, pesto, and pâtés.
Available in health food stores and many supermarkets.
Use in marinades, sprinkle on vegetarian dishes and grilled vegetables, or mix in with the crumbs used for breading fish. Toast lightly in a skillet with a little olive oil, some ground pure chile powder, and a few bread crumbs and use as a savory topping.
Bits and pieces of air-dried ham
Fat trimmings, bones, and skin.
Throw into the soup or stew pot and remove before serving.
Bagna càuda
Made from garlic, olive oil, butter, milk, bread crumbs, and a lot of anchovies.
Use as a dip for raw vegetables or as a sauce for fish or poultry.
Parmesan cheese crusts
The hard crusts from Parmesan cheese.
Cook with the other ingredients in soups and sauces and remove before serving.
Flatfish dorsal fins
The soft, translucent flesh of the thin muscle of the dorsal fin is cut into small squares and fried lightly.
Use like croutons or bacon bits on a salad; can be marinated with a little lemon juice before serving.
Remnants of soft, ripened blue cheese
Place on parchment paper and dry out in the oven or in a food dehydrator.
Grate or crush into a powder and sprinkle on pizza, salad, or pasta, or add to a gravy that tastes a bit flat.
Brown gravy, medisterpølse (pork sausage), and beef patties are among the most loved of the dishes that have been staples of ordinary Danish cuisine for centuries. While these are truly prime examples of ‘grandmother’s cooking,’ there is something more to them. Actually, they are fine illustrations of the intuitive search for umami that has been going on in Western kitchens for hundreds of years. And in light of our recent knowledge about the fifth taste, they can be made even better by tweaking the combination of ingredients that go into them.
Both the taste and the aroma of an old-fashioned brown gravy are a heavenly experience, the very essence of umami. When made properly, it is based on a stock made from meat and bones in combination with vegetables that have simmered for a long time to draw out every bit of free glutamate and inosinate in them. When possible, use water in which potatoes have been boiled as well, because it is full of the free glutamate released from them during cooking. To make it even more savory, one can slip in an anchovy right at the start. The fish totally melts away into the sauce, adding an extra, intense infusion of umami. Its own taste disappears so completely that no one will ever guess that ‘grandmother’s brown gravy’ has been doctored in this untraditional way.
Conversely, a really unappetizing brown gravy is worse than no sauce at all, and just about everybody can tell when the taste is not what was expected. Something is missing, and most often this comes down to salt and umami. Several measures can be undertaken to rescue it. Adding stock as above will automatically make it taste saltier. The gravy will be improved even more if fungi, which can contribute guanylate and interact synergistically, are added to the mix. If it simply is a bit flat, an easy way to pump up the umami content is to add a dash of Worcestershire sauce or a small lump of mature blue cheese.
Medisterpølse is a traditional Danish aromatically spiced dinner sausage made from ground pork and striped pork fat. The secret behind its rich umami content is mixing the meat with a stock made from pork bones before stuffing it into the sausage casings. It is usually eaten with plain boiled potatoes and a thick brown gravy, which elevates the taste of the dish to a whole other level. As mentioned, the cooking water from the potatoes should be set aside for the gravy. Old-fashioned Danish medisterpølse
Stock
½ kg (1 lb) pork bones
bouquet garni with celery
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a few whole cloves (optional)
Stuffing
1 kg (2¼ lb) pork, not too lean
250 g (9 oz) striped pork fat
4 shallots, peeled
salt and freshly ground black pepper
ground allspice
sausage casings
1. Place the stock ingredients in a pot with a tight-fitting lid, add just enough water to cover, and simmer for 1 hour. Strain the liquid and reserve for use later.
2. Grind the pork, pork fat, and shallots coarsely in a meat grinder.
3. Stir in enough of the stock to give the meat the consistently of porridge, and mix well. Season with a little salt, pepper, and allspice.
4. Using a sausage horn mounted on a mixer or grinder, stuff the sausage casings. Be careful not to overfill the casings, or they will burst when the sausages are cooked.
5. Divide the sausage into appropriate lengths and tie a knot in each end.
6. Because these sausages are not cooked or smoked, they should be frozen if not intended for use within a day or so.
7. To serve: Boil the sausages in a very small amount of water until they are cooked through (you will have to cut into one to check). Reserve this water, together with water from boiling potatoes, for making brown gravy. Fry the cooked sausages in butter until they are nicely browned on all sides. Serve with brown gravy and boiled or steamed potatoes, with some cucumber salad or pickled beets on the side.
The third in this trio of everyday dishes consists of beef patties with onions, potatoes, and brown gravy. In terms of old-fashioned Danish cuisine, it represents the very epitome of food with umami. When Danes are asked by foreigners to identify food that is quintessentially representative of their country, they often answer smørrebrød (smorgasbord or open-face sandwiches) and beef patties with onions. The patties are made with ground beef, which should be neither too fatty nor too lean. A fat content of about 8 percent is best. Ideally, the meat should have been aged and be from older animals, as this results in the most umami.
Usually the patties are served with onions fried until they are translucent and a brown gravy made with the meat drippings from the frying pan. Here we have updated the recipe to increase its umami content by seasoning the gravy with Worcestershire sauce, HP sauce, or soy sauce. And, whether one likes it or not, custom dictates that the gravy must be a deep brown color, so it might be necessary to add a little caramel food coloring to achieve the desired result. Boiled or mashed potatoes and a fried or poached egg, which also contribute umami, are served on the side. The dish is rounded out with condiments that are sweet and sour, such as pickled beets, cucumber pickles, sweet and sour red cabbage, and wild cranberry or red currant jelly. Beef patties, Danish style
Beef patties, Danish style, with onions, mashed potatoes, marinated beets, poached egg, and brown gravy.
Gently stewing or simmering meat and vegetables over a long period of time releases more of their free glutamate and nucleotides, which intensifies umami. A dish of oxtails simmered for hours or an osso buco made with beef shanks, vegetables, and tomatoes is delightfully savory and satisfying.
The difference in taste between a well-cooked meat stew and a quickly sautéed piece of beef is enormous. Sautéing will infuse the dish with delicious-tasting Maillard compounds as the result of browning, but stewing draws out more umami. Other traditional simmered dishes that are also rich in umami include cabbage rolls and cassoulet. Cassoulet (page 186)
The French word ragoûter, meaning ‘to revive the taste,’ precisely describes the effect of umami. It has been absorbed into English as ragout, another name for a stew that is often applied to a variety of delicious dishes made with meat, poultry, or game. Estofado is a traditional Spanish casserole in which meat is stewed with tomatoes and potatoes. Beef estofado (page 188)
Serves 4
large baking potatoes
salt
mustard seeds
beets
apple cider vinegar
canola oil
freshly ground white pepper
Worcestershire sauce
1 egg per serving
onions
ground beef with about 8% fat content, about 200 g per serving
butter
all-purpose flour
Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, HP sauce, or ketchup
caramel food color (optional)
1. Wash the potatoes and boil them whole with 4 g (⅘ tsp) of salt per liter (quart) of water. Set aside. Remember to set the cooking water aside as well.
2. Soak the mustard seeds in a little lukewarm water to soften, and then crush them lightly.
3. Cook the beets in lightly salted boiling water for about 45 minutes, until they are tender. Discard the water and place the beets under cold running water to loosen the skin. Peel or slip off the skin. Grate the beets or cut them into strips, then marinate them with the mustard seeds, apple cider vinegar, and canola oil, as well as a little salt and white pepper.
4. Pour the Worcestershire sauce into a small pot, reduce by about half, and allow to cool.
5. Place the eggs in egg poachers and add a little salt, white pepper, and a drop of the Worcestershire reduction.
6. Poach the eggs gently, 4–5 minutes. The yolks should be runny.
7. Peel the onions and cut them into chunks, like orange segments.
8. Shape the ground beef into patties, fry them in butter, and season with a little Worcestershire sauce reduction, salt, and white pepper. When you turn the patties, add the onion segments to the pan.
9. Remove the patties when they are medium-rare. Leave the onions to fry until they are golden and soft. Remove the onions from the pan and place most of the onions on top of the patties. Reserve the rest for serving.
10. Sprinkle a little flour in the pan, toast it lightly, add two or three ladlefuls of the potato water, and whisk thoroughly. When the mixture has cooked through and the floury taste has disappeared, add more potato water to attain the desired consistency for the gravy.
11. Season the gravy with Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, HP sauce, or ketchup, as well as salt and white pepper. Add a little caramel food coloring to give color—not necessary, but not harmful either!
12. Cut the cooked potatoes in half, hollow them out, put the potato flesh through a ricer or mash them with a fork.
13. Arrange the beef patties on plates with the beets, remaining onions, poached eggs, mashed potatoes, and the brown gravy.
Chicken Marengo.
Adding shellfish to a meat stew that has tomatoes introduces synergistic umami from the abundance of nucleotides in these ingredients. An excellent example of this type of dish is chicken Marengo. Legend has it that it was created following the Battle of Marengo in Italy in June 1800, when the French led by Napoleon were fighting the Austrians. In order to feed the troops after their victory, Napoleon’s chef, Dunand, sent his men out to forage in the surrounding countryside. They returned with tomatoes, eggs, chicken, and crayfish. The chef created a delicious stew, which so delighted Napoleon that he allowed it to be named after his triumph at Marengo and had it served to him after every battle. The combination of chicken, eggs, tomatoes, and crayfish impart a very intense umami taste. Chicken Marengo
A fricassee is a stew made with light meat—for example, veal, poultry, or lamb—together with a variety of vegetables and, possibly, mushrooms. A classic dish is chicken fricassee, which is rich in umami from the glutamate in the chicken and vegetables and the guanylate in the mushrooms. Served in small pastry shells, chicken fricassee with asparagus is a delicious treat.
Serves 4
1 free-range chicken, about 1.5 kg (3 lb) olive oil
12 fresh crayfish
20 pearl onions, peeled
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 dL (⅘ c) dry white wine
1 can (2 c) peeled, chopped tomatoes
2–3 dL (⅘–1⅕ c) chicken bouillon or dashi
5 sprigs fresh thyme
country bread
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 free-range eggs
200 g (7 oz) chanterelles or other tasty mushrooms
1 bunch fresh parsley
1. Split the chicken open and discard the backbone. Cut the rest into pieces, complete with the carcass and the bones, which add taste substances.
2. Brown the pieces thoroughly in olive oil in a large pot and set aside.
3. If necessary, add a little more olive oil to sauté the crayfish for a few minutes. Take out the crayfish, remove their heads, and set them aside. Put the heads back in the pot together with the onions and garlic. Cook until the onions are light brown, then add the white wine and reduce the liquid a little.
4. Return the chicken pieces to the pot. Add the crushed tomatoes, chicken bouillon, and thyme, cover with a lid, and allow to simmer over low heat until the chicken is cooked through but still juicy. Remove the carcass and bones and keep the chicken warm until serving.
5. Peel the crayfish. Cut the crust off the bread, and cut it into cubes. Toast first the crayfish and then the bread cubes lightly in olive oil in a skillet.
6. Fish out the crayfish heads from the pot with the chicken and discard; season the sauce with salt and pepper.
7. Crack the eggs into a bowl filled with cold water and vinegar so that they tighten up. Warm some olive oil in a small pan. Remove the eggs carefully and pat them dry on a paper towel. Fry them in the oil until they are golden but still runny inside.
8. Place the eggs on a paper towel to drain the excess oil and season them with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
9. Toast the chanterelles in a dry skillet. Chop the parsley.
10. Serve the chicken in the tomato sauce. Distribute the bread cubes over the chicken. Add the fried eggs, sprinkle with the parsley, and top with the crayfish.
Serves 4
300 g (10 ½ oz) dried white beans
250 g (9 oz) carrots
4 onions
8 cloves garlic
500 g (17½ oz) ripe tomatoes
200 g (7 oz) pork crackling
olive oil
fresh thyme leaves
4–6 confit duck legs (can be purchased ready-made)
500 g (17½ oz) coarse sausages, preferably small ones with a lot of meat
600 g (21 oz) free-range pork shoulder
300 g (10½ oz) smoked bacon, pieces halved
bay leaves
whole cloves
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1½ L (6⅓ c) soup stock or water
1. Soak the beans for about 12 hours, changing the water once. Drain the beans.
2. Peel the carrots and cut into pieces. Chop the onions and mince the garlic finely.
3. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for 1 minute, then remove their skin and chop them.
4. Chop the crackling into small pieces and sauté it in olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat with half of the onions and garlic, without letting it brown.
5. Add the drained beans and a little thyme and allow it all to simmer uncovered for about 2 hours.
6. In another skillet, sauté briefly the duck legs in their own fat together with the sausage, which can be cut into large pieces. Remove from the pan.
7. Cut the pork shoulder into chunks and sauté in the same pan together with the bacon pieces.
8. Add the remaining onions and garlic, carrots, tomatoes, thyme, bay leaves, a few cloves, salt and pepper, and soup or water.
9. Allow to simmer for about 2 hours.
10. Preheat the oven to 160ºC (320ºF). Cut the bacon into smaller pieces and distribute all of the meat pieces and other ingredients evenly in a clay baker and cover with the soup stock or water.
11. Bake, adding a little more liquid if necessary during baking, until it has a little bit of a crust and the beans have absorbed all the liquid.
12. Serve directly from the oven, accompanied by slices of coarse country bread.
▶ Cassoulet.
For the red wine marinade
Serves 4
500–600 g (17½–21 oz) root vegetables, such as celery, carrots, onions, and leeks
olive oil
1 bottle (750 ml) dry red wine
1 dl (⅖ c) red wine vinegar
fresh parsley stalks, sprigs of fresh thyme, bay leaves, black peppercorns, and peeled garlic cloves
300 g (10½ oz) bacon
1½ kg (3⅓ lb) beef chuck roast, bone-in
For braising and serving
root vegetables, such as celery, carrots, and celeriac
generous dash of brandy
a little more red wine, if needed
crushed tomatoes
mashed potatoes
1. Cut the first lot of root vegetables into large pieces and toast them in a pot in a little olive oil. Add the red wine, red wine vinegar, and the herbs and spices. Allow to simmer, covered, for 15–20 minutes; then cool.
2. Divide the bacon into two pieces, cut the meat into 8 pieces. Immerse the pieces completely in the cooled marinade and let sit in a cool place for 24 hours, turning them once.
3. Preheat the oven to 130°C (260°F). Allow the bacon and meat to drain thoroughly and then brown it well in a large skillet. Transfer to an ovenproof baking dish. Cut the second batch of root vegetables into large pieces and add to the dish. Pour in the marinade and add a generous dash of the distilled spirits and possibly a little more red wine. As the meat should be covered with liquid, it might be necessary to add a little beef bouillon or even a bit of water.
4. Braise in the oven for about 3 hours until the meat come off the bone easily.
5. Strain the liquid into a pot and skim off the fat carefully with a spoon. Reduce the liquid a little over high heat. The gravy can be thickened en roux using the fat, or by blending some of the vegetables and adding them to the gravy. What the gravy loses in appearance will be compensated for by what it gains by way of taste.
6. To serve: Prepare a large portion of crushed tomatoes as follows: Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for 1 minute and peel them. Remove the seeds and chop the pulp into small cubes. Mix the tomatoes into the estofado and serve it with mashed potatoes, preferably mixed with puréed root vegetables.
▶ Beef estofado.
The traditional Proven? ratatouille made with a variety of vegetables, typically eggplants, tomatoes, onions, and celery simmered in olive oil, can be a little on the heavy side. There is a Sicilian variation, however, which is lighter in color and less filling. Sicilian ratatouille
Sicilian ratatouille can be served as an accompaniment to a brandade, which is made with salt cod. Brandade with air-dried ham and green peas. The combination of these two dishes hits all the right notes, with umami from tomatoes, dried ham, and green peas.
Serves 4
400 g (14 oz) eggplants
2–4 fresh artichokes
200 g (7 oz) zucchini
5 stalks celery
salt
olive oil
200 g (7 oz) shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
400 g (14 oz) very ripe tomatoes
2 Tbsp tomato purée
2 Tbsp drained capers
chopped fresh oregano
white wine vinegar
sugar
freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp shelled pistachios
1. Cut the eggplants, artichokes, zucchini, and celery into cubes. If fresh artichokes are not available, oil-preserved artichokes in a jar can be substituted.
2. Salt the eggplant cubes lightly and place them in a colander to drain for about 20 minutes. Rinse and pat them dry.
3. Sauté the eggplant cubes in a pot with olive oil until browned, and then remove them. Next sauté briefly the shallots, garlic, zucchini, celery, and artichoke cubes in the pot. Add the tomatoes and the tomato purée to the pot. Cover and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Add the eggplant cubes, capers, and oregano to the pot. Season with a little white wine vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper.
5. Toast the pistachios in a dry skillet and sprinkle over the ratatouille. It tastes even better if it has been allowed to sit for a day before eating.
Serves 4
300 g (10½ oz) salt cod
olive oil
3 cloves garlic
10 white peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 sprig fresh thyme
4 starchy baking potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
1 onion, finely chopped
100 g (4 oz) air-dried ham, cut into cubes
green peas or green asparagus
1. Soak the salt cod in water for 24 hours, changing the water a few times.
2. Taste the fish. It should be neither too salty nor too waterlogged.
3. Place the salt cod in a stainless steel bowl with the skin side up. Heat some olive oil with the garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves, and thyme to 150ºC (300ºF) and pour over the salt cod. Allow to cool to room temperature.
4. Remove the skin and bones from the fish.
5. Pour a little olive oil into a pot. Add the potatoes and onion. Allow to fry gently over low heat for a few minutes without browning. Add 1 cup water and simmer with the cover on until the potatoes are soft.
6. Squash the potatoes with a fork to make a coarse mash. Stir the salt cod and cubes of air-dried ham into the mash. Season with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add raw green peas or finely cut asparagus at the very end.
7. Serve the brandade in scoops. It goes well with ratatouille and can be eaten warm, lukewarm, or cold as a dish on its own with toasted bread and olive oil.
UMAMI BURGER
An ordinary hamburger is the stereotypical example of fast food—a plain, soft bun and a dry patty made from low-quality meat. It is edible only because the ketchup, cheddar cheese (sometimes), tomato slices, bacon strips, and mayonnaise that accompany it are full of glutamate and impart umami. An American burger restaurant on the West Coast and in New York, which calls itself Umami Burger, has achieved nearly cult status by going all the way and actively embracing the concept of the fifth taste. With its slogan of “It’s all about umami,” the restaurant serves hamburgers with tomatoes, konbu, anchovies, shiitake mushrooms, truffles, Parmesan cheese, and soy sauce. A veritable umami fix.
Having just described slow cooking as a sure way to unlock maximum taste, we might quite naturally ask why the stereotypical fast foods can still taste good, even when they are made from inferior ingredients or using industrial techniques that treat them in a rather brutal manner. Those that have little salt, or less fat, or substitute lean meat may have fewer calories, but they lose a great deal of taste, which is in the fats or enhanced by the addition of salt. So something is needed to fill the gaps, and the fast food industry often depends on umami to solve many of these problems. Much fast food is rendered edible, and may even be delicious, simply because it combines ingredients that maximize savory tastes. This is true for a hamburger with slices of tomato, ketchup, mayonnaise, and cheddar cheese; deep-fried potatoes with ketchup, spaghetti with tomato sauce; pizza with tomatoes and Parmesan cheese; or noodles with soy sauce. Three-day pizza with umami—not really a ‘fast food’ (page 192)
Serves 4
Pizza dough
Day 1
2 dL (⅞ c) water
400 g (1¾ c) high-gluten flour, such as durum
a knifepoint of active dry yeast
1. Mix the ingredients together into a biga and leave covered in a cool spot to rise until the next day.
Day 2
Biga from Day 1
3 dL (1¼ c) water
2 g (⅓ tsp) active dry yeast
3 Tbsp olive oil
350 g (1½ c) fine durum flour
150 g (⅔ c) coarse whole wheat flour
1½ tsp salt
2. Mix the biga, water, yeast, salt, and olive oil thoroughly so that the biga is completely blended in.
3. Add both flours a little at a time and knead thoroughly to make a firm dough. The amount of flour needed may vary.
4. Set aside covered in a cool place to rise until the next day.
Day 3
5. Punch down the dough and cut it into quarters. Put each piece in a bowl and allow the dough to rise until double its size.
Basic tomato sauce
1 large onion
olive oil
2 cans (3−4 c) peeled tomatoes
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 dl (⅖ c) dry white wine
fresh oregano leaves
sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
6. Slice the onions very thinly and cook them in some olive oil in a pot over medium-high heat until they are translucent.
7. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, and oregano and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes uncovered. The sauce can be puréed if a finer consistency is desired.
8. Season with sugar, salt, and pepper. Set aside to cool.
9. Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat the oven to the highest temperature, preferably above 300ºC (550ºF). Roll out the pizza dough pieces and spread a layer of the tomato sauce on top. Cover with the toppings.
10. Bake the pizzas on the preheated pizza stones (or on a pizza pan).
Some suggested toppings for the pizzas are: crumbled Gorgonzola, anchovies in olive oil, pieces of fresh asparagus, dark mushrooms according to season, capers, Parmigiano-Reggiano, pancetta, air-dried ham, and truffles (grated on top after baking).
There are pizzas and, then again, there are pizzas. If, however, one has the great good fortune to be on hand when everything comes together flawlessly, pizza rises above the ordinary. If the dough, the sauce, and the toppings all complement each other perfectly and the pizza is baked in a wood-fired stone oven, which produces a crisp crust with air bubbles and black smudges, and it has a true smoky taste, one has had the chance to experience the essence of deliciousness and simplicity.
Pizzas with an abundance of umami from tomato sauce, air-dried ham, anchovies, and Parmesan cheese.
A green salad is an example of food that is fairly uninteresting on its own. It is lacking something, and that something is often umami. The classical example is a Caesar salad made with leaves of plain green romaine. Its taste is due almost entirely to the dressing and toppings that accompany the lettuce. These can be Parmesan cheese, cooked eggs, anchovies, ripe tomatoes, crisp bacon bits, or Worcestershire sauce, all ingredients that impart umami.
Many people choose not to eat vegetables because they consider them to have little taste or simply because they do not know how to prepare them so that they are palatable. Just as with a plain green salad, there is probably little that is less appealing than a collection of vegetables to be eaten raw—wholesome, but bland. Once again, one can take a lesson from the Buddhist monks and their use of dashi to make delicious, strictly vegetarian temple meals. Finely sliced vegetables can be simmered in dashi, infusing them with an immediate jolt of umami, which may even interact synergistically with the small amounts of glutamate and ribonucleotides in them to enhance their taste.
▶ Green salad with ingredients that add umami.
A modern version of roasted thrush with an umami-rich gravy, here made with quails.
Many cooks know about the tried-and-true trick of adding some soft, ripened blue cheese to a gravy for a dish made with small game birds. For example, ripe, creamy Roquefort or Danish blue cheese is full of free glutamate that will enhance the savory taste of the gravy. At the same time, the cheese adds a little touch of acidity that can be balanced by some fruit jelly, typically from red currants. This same combination is often found in old Nordic recipes for small game birds. A variety of small birds can also be prepared as a pâté. Quail pâté
Serves 4
250 g (9 oz) meat from small fowl, such as quails, pigeons, and partridges
100 g (3½ oz) pork lard
250 g (9 oz) calf liver
100 g (3½ oz) mushrooms
2 shallots, finely chopped
5–10 whole madagascar green peppercorns
fresh thyme leaves, to taste
½ dL (¼ c) port
1 egg
salt and freshly ground white pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 155ºC (310ºF). Grind the poultry meat, lard, liver, and mushrooms in a meat grinder.
2. Mix together with the shallots, peppercorns, thyme, and port. Bind with an egg and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pack into a loaf pan.
3. Place the loaf pan in a larger baking pan and add hot water to the larger pan to a depth of 2.5 cm (1 in). Bake the pâté in the water bath for 30–40 minutes.
Even though potatoes may seem a little uninspiring, they are probably the most striking illustration of the meaning of umami in European peasant cuisine. The taste of cooked potatoes owes much to the umami substances glutamate and guanylate, which are released during cooking. In fact, the free glutamate content of a potato doubles when it is cooked. A cooked potato has practically no aroma, and it is not possible to simulate its taste by combining sour, sweet, salty, and bitter tastes.
Cooked potatoes are often found in dishes that are rich in umami, such as the braised potatoes in cassoulet or in red flannel hash. A dash of Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce adds some extra umami to the potatoes. The water from boiled potatoes can be recycled to advantage for making dashi or gravy.
How does rice end up with any umami taste when it has none in either its raw state or its cooked state? The addition of MSG or salt does not improve things noticeably, which is natural, given that neither the MSG nor the rice has any taste in and of itself. On the contrary, if one adds soy sauce, which contains a whole series of amino acids but no inosinate or guanylate, the rice becomes slightly tastier. It really starts to improve when one incorporates katsuobushi, which is an ingredient in some recipes for sushi rice, or another ingredient that also has a nucleotide to interact synergistically. This we know from those rice dishes that develop a delicious taste when the rice is combined with vegetables, omelette, fried or cooked meat, chicken bouillon, fish, or shellfish. Risotto
To make a good risotto, you need three things—the right kind of rice, a lot of enthusiasm, and the ability to pay attention. It is vital to use a special type of round short- or medium-grain rice with a high starch content; Arborio, Baldo, Carnaroli, and Vialone Nano are all very suitable. Just as is the case for dashi, the exact way a risotto turns out is very likely to vary from one kitchen and one cook to another. The central, critical feature, however, is the texture—it must be creamy and so soft that it is almost runny, while at the same time, each grain of rice should retain just a tiny bit of crunchiness.
▶ Risotto with black truffles.
Leftover risotto can easily be used to make little rice fritters. Spread the risotto about 2 cm (¾ in) thick on a piece of plastic wrap on a baking sheet and refrigerate. Cut into appropriate-size pieces, flour them on all sides, and fry them in butter until golden and crisp. Eat as a snack or as part of a meal.
ASPARAGUS RISOTTO
Serves 4
½ kg (17½ oz) white asparagus
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 shallots
250 g (1 c) risotto rice
1 L (4¼ c) chicken bouillon
50 g (3½ Tbsp) butter
75–100 g (⅓–⅖ c) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
salt and freshly ground white pepper
Note: When making risotto, ensure that the liquid to be added is warm.
1. Peel the white asparagus and cut the spears into small pieces. Cook them in ½ L (2⅛ c) lightly salted boiling water for about 2 minutes and then remove from the pot. Reserve the water for the risotto.
2. Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot over low heat. Chop the shallots finely and cook them in the oil until they are translucent. Add the rice and allow it to cook with the shallots for a few minutes.
3. Gradually add the chicken bouillon, a little at a time, and stir carefully until the rice has absorbed the liquid. Alternate between adding the bouillon and the asparagus water until the rice is cooked but has just a little crunch in the middle of each grain.
4. Mix in the asparagus pieces, possibly with a little more bouillon. Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the butter, a little at a time, and the Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Cover the pot and allow the risotto to stand for a few minutes before serving.
RISOTTO WITH BLACK TRUFFLES
This is made using the same techniques as the asparagus risotto. Instead of the asparagus water, use a stronger bouillon, for example, from beef, or reduce chicken stock to make it more robust.
Serves 4
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 shallots
250 g (1 c) risotto rice
2 dL (⅞ c) dry white wine
1½ L (6⅓ c) strong bouillon
1 L (4¼ c) chicken bouillon
50 g (3½ Tbsp) butter
75–100 g (⅓–⅖ c) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
salt and freshly ground white pepper
black truffles, according to taste and affordability
Follow the method for the asparagus risotto, except add the white wine to the rice after cooking it with the shallots. Allow the rice to absorb the white wine before adding the bouillon.
At the end, cut the truffles into thin slices. Mix half of the slices into the risotto when it is completely finished and sprinkle the rest on the plates just before serving.
Sake, an alcoholic beverage produced from polished rice, is popularly thought of as a rice wine, even though the fermentation process involved is actually closer to that used for brewing beer.
Quite surprisingly given its rice base, sake has a reasonable umami content. When rice grains are polished, they usually lose at least half of their mass, as well as most of their proteins and fats, leaving behind mostly starch. The polished rice is cooked and fermented with the help of a fermentation medium (kōji), which contains enzymes that can break down the starch to sugar and the proteins to free amino acids. A yeast culture then converts the sugar to alcohol. The free amino acids found in the finished sake are derived from the small amounts of protein that remain in the polished rice, as well as those in the kōji and the yeast.
The umami content of sake depends on the amount of free glutamate in a particular type and brand. This information is listed on the label of some high-quality sake. Umami is more pronounced in sake that is less dry and slightly sweet. Many Japanese feel strongly, and perhaps quite justifiably, that rice wine pairs perfectly with a meal, as its umami serves to reinforce the delicious taste of the food. It is possible, however, that some of the subtle umami taste so highly prized by sake connoisseurs is not due to the free glutamate in the liquor. Instead, it may be due to the presence of succinic acid, which has a similar effect by introducing a combination of salty, bitter, and sour tastes.
The lees from sake fermentation, called sake kasu, are made up of leftover starch and sugar, as well as spent yeast cells, which contain very large quantities of amino acids and glutamate. Consequently, the lees can be recycled to advantage to impart umami; for example, as a marinade for fish or vegetables.
The practice of using sake kasu, together with mirin, salt, and sugar, to make a marinade goes back at least twelve centuries in Japan. Traditionally, the foods could be left to marinate for a very long time, in some cases, a period of years. The process helps to preserve the raw ingredients and improves both their keeping qualities and their nutritional value. Originally, sake kasu was used to marinate melon, eggplants, and cucumbers; later on, carrots and ginger were also preserved this way.
The combination of sake and mirin is also used to improve the taste of bland vegetables. When marinated, they become slightly sweet and can be eaten cold or as a condiment.
When fish are marinated in sake kasu, no sugar is added to the marinade. Lemon juice, sake, ginger, and possibly a little oil with a mild taste can be incorporated in the marinade. Depending on the thickness of the fish, it should marinate from a half an hour to an hour. To serve, remove the fish from the marinade, but do not rinse it or scrape it clean. If the fish is sashimi grade, it can be eaten as is; otherwise, fry it gently over low heat.
The brewing process used to make beer helps to release small quantities of glutamate (2–4 mg/100 g) from the proteins in the grains that make up the malt. Additional free glutamate comes from the yeast. Unfiltered wheat beer with residual yeast has more glutamate than a pilsner-style beer. For this reason, wheat beer is a good source of umami when marinating or cooking meat and vegetables. Oxtails braised in wheat beer
Serves 4
2 kg (4⅖ lb) middle pieces of oxtail, cut into segments
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 or 2 fresh chile peppers
assorted vegetables, such as celery, carrots, onions, and leeks
200 g (7 oz) shallots
2 bottles (355 mL/12 oz each) unfiltered wheat beer
1 dl (⅖ c) red wine vinegar
100 g (7 Tbsp) tomato purée
1–2 L (4¼–8½ c) beef bouillon or water
2 Tbsp unsweetened cacao powder
a little all-purpose flour
bouquet garni of fresh lovage, thyme, savory, parsley stalks, and dried bay leaves
1. Rinse the oxtails thoroughly, dry them, and season generously with salt and pepper.
2. Cut open the chile peppers lengthwise and remove the seeds.
3. Cut the vegetables into chunks and chop the shallots finely.
4. Brown the oxtails in a large pot with a heavy base, then add the vegetables, bay leaves, shallots, and chile peppers. Sauté them until they have a little color.
5. Pour in the beer and the vinegar and cook until the liquid has almost disappeared.
6. Spread the tomato purée on the tails and add the bouillon until the pieces are just covered.
7. Cover the pot and allow the oxtails to cook over very low heat on the stove top (or in a low oven) for about 3 hours. If necessary, add a little extra liquid from time to time to ensure that the oxtails are just covered.
8. Sprinkle on the cacao powder and allow the oxtails to finish braising.
9. Remove the oxtail pieces from the pot, pass the cooking liquid through a sieve, and skim off any foam or other bits. Reduce the liquid and season to taste.
10. To thicken the gravy, sprinkle a little flour on top, allow the surface fat to absorb it, whisk thoroughly, and cook through until the taste of the flour disappears.
11. To serve: Remove the meat from the bones. Serve with the gravy, a good mash, roasted root vegetables, mushrooms, and pickled green beans.
In Western cuisines, most desserts are made with a considerable quantity of sugar. The sugar adds sweetness and ensures that desserts made with acidic fruits have a well-balanced taste. It is noteworthy that Japanese cuisine has no tradition of adding sugar to desserts. The sweet tastes in a cake or a candy come from the raw ingredients themselves, such as small red azuki beans.
Here, again, umami comes into the picture. It can interact with sweet tastes, making them more pronounced, with the result that even desserts with only a little sugar seem to be sweeter. One can take advantage of this relationship by using raw ingredients with umami and little taste of their own to reduce the amount of sugar in a traditional dessert, such as a sorbet. Experiments have shown that one can substitute up to 25 percent of the sugar in a sorbet with a suitable quantity of the juice from sun-ripened tomatoes. Umami sorbet with maccha and tomato
Serves 4
15 g (½ oz) maccha
8 dL (3⅓ c) warm water (75–80ºC or 165–175ºF)
1 leaf gelatin (¾ tsp powdered gelatin)
140 g (3⅗ c) light cane sugar
70 g (⅓ c) corn syrup
2 dL (⅘ c) tomato juice from the pulp of very ripe tomatoes
seeds from ½ vanilla bean
a little freshly squeezed lemon juice
Umami sorbet with maccha and tomato.
1. Pass the maccha powder through a sieve into a deep, warmed bowl, add the warm water, and whisk for 1–2 minutes, until the tea foams.
2. Soften the gelatin in a small amount of cold water.
3. Pour the warm tea into a blender, add the cane sugar, corn syrup, gelatin, tomato juice, and seeds from the vanilla bean. Blend until smooth.
4. Season with a little lemon juice, until the sweet and sour balance is as desired.
5. Churn the mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Or freeze in it a shallow baking pan and break it up and blend it again just before serving. The sorbet can be served with small grape tomatoes that have been pickled in a good, strong honey with some lemon peel.
Chocolate and chocolate creams are often found in sweet desserts. Adding components with umami, such as blue cheese and nutritional yeast, can enhance the sweetness in addition to imparting the dessert with an element of surprise. White chocolate cream, black sesame seeds, Roquefort, and brioche with nutritional yeast
Mirin is a sweet liquor made from rice, with an alcohol content of about 14 percent and a significant amount of umami. It is made from cooked rice that is seeded with the fungus Aspergillus oryzae, which is also used for the production of Japanese shōyu and miso. shōchū, distilled rice wine brandy, is added to the rice. The enzymes in the fungus break down the starch in the rice to sugar and its proteins to free amino acids, including glutamate, which imparts umami. Mirin is not intended to be drunk. A mixture of mirin, soy sauce, and sake is called tsuyu, a sauce with a great quantity of umami that is used for dipping tempura and noodles. The well-known, sticky teriyaki sauce is made by cooking this mixture with sugar.
Brioche
It is difficult to prepare brioche in small quantities. Hence the present recipe will yield more than is needed. The baked brioche can easily be stored in the freezer.
Serves 4
½ kg (2⅕ c) all-purpose flour
90 g (⅖ c) sugar
40 g (2¾ Tbsp) nutritional yeast
8 g (1⅔ tsp) salt
5 g (1 tsp) active dry yeast
65 g (¼ c) water
5 eggs
250 g (8¾ oz) butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces
1. Place all of the ingredients except for the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix slowly, but thoroughly, using the dough hook.
2. Add the butter pieces a few at a time and mix in slowly on low speed. This should take about 20 minutes, and the dough should be hanging onto the dough hook.
3. Place the dough in three 1 L (3−4 c) baking pans. They should be a little less than half full, as the dough will rise by about two-thirds.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a cool spot for 12 hours. Then let the dough rise at room temperature for 6 hours.
5. Preheat the oven to 160ºC (320ºF). Bake the bread for 20–25 minutes.
6. Before serving, cut thin slices of the brioche and toast them until they are golden and crisp.
Sesame paste
200 g (⅞ c) black sesame seeds
½ dL (⅕ c) sesame oil
a little salt
7. Toast the sesame seeds light in a dry skillet. Blend with the sesame oil and a little salt in a thermo blender at 70ºC (160ºF) for 10 minutes. Alternatively, one can use about 250 g (½ lb) of ready-made sesame paste.
White chocolate cream
1 dl (⅖ c) heavy cream
1 dl (⅖ c) full-fat milk
3 egg yolks
20 g (⅔ oz) sugar
50 g (1⅔ oz) good-quality white chocolate
siphon flask and 1 cartridge
50 g (1¾ oz) very blue Roquefort, frozen
8. Heat the cream and milk in a saucepan. Mix together the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl. Stir the eggs slowly into the milk mixture a little at a time, while increasing the heat slowly. Be careful not to let the eggs scramble.
9. Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a bowl.
10. Pour the milk mixture over the chocolate, stir gently until the chocolate has dissolved, and then refrigerate until chilled.
11. Pass the cold mixture through a sieve into the siphon flask, insert the cartridge, and keep cold until ready to serve.
To serve: Pipe the airy white chocolate mixture from the siphon flask into deep bowls, drizzle the sesame paste on top, and grate the blue cheese over it. Finish by crumbling broken pieces of brioche over the top.
▶ White chocolate cream, black sesame seeds, Roquefort, and brioche with nutritional yeast.
The pleasure of dining belongs to all ages, to all conditions, to all countries, and to all times; it mingles with all the other pleasures, and remains at the end to console us for the loss of the rest.
Le plaisir de la table est de tous les âges, de toutes les conditions, de tous les pays et de tous les jours; il peut s’associer à tous les autres plaisirs, et reste le dernier pour nous consoler de leur perte.
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755–1826)