The Umami of Breast Milk
Seaweed is high in umami. In fact, the term umami was coined by Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda in 1908, as he was researching the flavor of the seaweed stock. Photograph from Robyn Lee on Flickr
By now, any food-lover with his or her salt knows about umami, the "fifth flavor" (in addition to sweetness, saltiness, bitterness, and sourness). But I don't know if I've ever seen this bit of info about it. From the Guardian:
Part of the reason why the palate responds so favourably towards glutamate could be our early exposure to it—breast milk has very high levels, 10 times higher than cow's milk. However, as with all good tastes, umami guides our appetites towards foods with optimum nutrition. Just as sweet foods signal that there are sugars in foods, salty tastes indicate the presence of minerals, and sour and bitter tastes keep us away from foods that could potentially poison us, research suggests that umami-rich foods alert us to the presence of proteins.
I suggest you continue getting your umami fix from such dishes as seaweed salads or the others described in the Guardian story.
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8 Comments:
Clearly, the umami-laden MSG packet I'm about to sprinkle over my instant ramen is an example of "optimum nutrition".
Michele Humes at 1:39PM on 12/04/08
I love MSG; now I know why.
Tam Ngo at 2:04PM on 12/04/08
Secret confession:
I bought a small packet of MSG at the Chinese grocer's. It was 99 cents and will probably last me a year and a half.
I use it along with the salt, sugar, pepper, cayenne and vinegar as core elements of my cooking.
I sprinkle it into dishes that don't have meat in them, or when I don't have stock to cook with. It has changed my food for the better, and I'm not sorry.
Plus the amounts I use are minuscule - less than even salt which I know will give me heart disease - meanwhile the supposed adverse effects of MSG are completely unsubstantiated.
beth maher at 2:39PM on 12/04/08
Maybe I am just twisted, but I so would have called this article Umommy.
wellred at 3:19PM on 12/04/08
@wellred: Nice wordplay. Wish I would have thought of that!
Adam Kuban at 3:26PM on 12/04/08
This is a really interesting point. I think it makes total sense!
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 10:53AM on 12/05/08
No one is getting near my umamis! That flavor is off the menu.
LOL!!
JerzeeTomato at 2:05PM on 12/06/08
Really interesting article!
NAOmni at 2:05PM on 12/09/08