For those of us who live by our tongues, those who search for that inexplicable something that takes a plain stew from blah to wow!, remember the word umami. Pronounced (not surprisingly) ooooo mommy!, it’s derived from a combination of Japanese symbols that together mean something along the lines of savory deliciousness. And for those who want to keep up with the foodies of our world, it’s the word that’s on everyone’s lips these days. It’s been an info-bite in almost every food magazine I’ve picked up lately, and on Sunday, I heard Lynn Rosetto Kasper of NPR’s The Splendid Table practically drooling over it. It has gained such importance in the world of food prep and taste that there was an international umami symposium in Holland last year. (I guess they have to have some kind of academic excuse for these symposia instead of admitting they just want to get together in some cool place to drink and eat fab food.).
Umami is the so-called fifth taste. I bet you thought there were only four, didn’t you? Sweet, sour, salty and bitter. But for all those years, didn’t you feel as though whoever catalogues these things and shoves them into our public school curriculum was being a bit parsimonious? Four tastes and that’s it? Have you ever eaten really good French food? Or Vietnamese? Or Chinese or Japanese or Cajun? Forsooth! I bet we eventually name even more tastes than that, and we won’t yank the new tastes around like the on-again-off-again relationship we’ve had with Pluto.
Anyhow.
Umami, the fifth taste, savory deliciousness, is what a lot of chefs are trying to describe when they talk about depth of flavor. It’s what gives broths that meaty taste that lingers on the tongue as a sensation of richness. Clinically, I’m told, it’s imparted by the amino acid L-glutamate along with some other unpronounceable things. Ultimately, it’s a kind of salty rich complexity found in fermented products like fish sauce, soy sauce, cheese and ham, or things like mushrooms, and tomatoes. Dean and DeLuca sell tubes of umami paste that combine tomatoes, anchovy, garlic, black olives, balsamic vinegar, porcini mushrooms, parmesan, olive oil and a touch of sugar and salt. What’s not to love?
Lynn Kasper was talking about umami in connection with the Burgundian classic, Coq au Vin, which includes bacon, red wine, garlic and old rooster (the coq). I’ve made coq au vin with an old rooster – Sargeant Peppercorn, whose untimely demise was a major adrenalin-burst that tainted the meat. (The dog killed him and was plucking him when I intervened. Waste not want not, I threw him into the pot, but it was not a happy experience for anyone, even the dog.). I’ve also made the dish with a free-range chicken, which is delicious.
Coq au vin, in all its umamistic glory, is perfect for this time of year. Serve it with some good bread slathered with real butter and a bottle of red.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/coq-au-vin-recipe/index.html
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/coq-au-vin-recipe4/index.html
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