Umami FAQ's

Umami: The Fifth Taste - What It Is and How to Add It to Your Cooking

When I went to Japan to learn about umami, I got a lot of questions about umami. Mainly….”what is umami?”. Which is fair enough. Umami for Americans is relatively new. In fact, it wasn’t until 2002 we named it an official taste alongside sweet, sour, bitter and salty. But meanwhile, in Japan, umami had been around since 1908.

In 2018, umami has started to be mentioned more and more in food magazines and podcasts so I wanted to get you the FAQ’s. You, my favorite people, should be in the know so when everyone else asks you what umami is, you have the answers. I’m not saying I like to be a know it all, except I do love having obscure facts on hand. I can’t play the piano on a whim, I can’t juggle. I have nothing else to offer in a social situation except strange tidbits of information.

To read the whole story on how we decide what gets to be a ‘taste’, why we even need to taste these 5 things, and how to use umami in your own kitchen beyond ramen head to my most recent Inspired Home post.

To read more about umami as it relates to MSG, head to this super in depth post.