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Definition: Umami

partysugar — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:00:16 -0700

Umami
Discovered 100 years ago by a Japanese scientist, umami is believed to be a fifth taste sensation. The four basic tastes are sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. Umami is considered to be savory. This taste is found in such foods as oysters, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Difficult to recognize, umami is a subtle taste that blends well with other foods to enhance flavor.

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Happy Hour: Vodka Tan Mash Up

partysugar — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 12:18:39 -0700

A few weekends ago I found myself at the Union Street Festival with Dear, Yum, and Geek. We started off at Umami, a sushi restaurant where Dear is friends with the bartender. As a favor to us, she had him make his specialty: a vodka tangerine mash up. It's an original concoction that he calls a faded crane, but I like calling it a vodka tan mash up. Refreshingly wonderful, this drink isn't too sweet, too sour, or too strong. In fact its only problem is that it goes down a little too easily - so drink carefully when you consume these. I'll definitely be serving them at my next party and you can too. Get the recipe, just read more

Vodka Tan Mash Up
From Umami

1 tangerine, cut into four wedges
2 oz vodka
1 tsp fine sugar (or small sugar cube)
1-2 dashes of bitters
soda water
juice of one lime

In a chilled old fashioned glass, muddle tangerine, sugar and bitters.
Add ice, pour vodka and lime juice over it and stir.
Top off with a quality soda water. Drink up!

Serves 1.

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Taste Test: La Famiglia DelGrosso Pasta Sauce

YumSugar — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:00:00 -0700

Since it's easy to prepare and so versatile, I cook pasta at least once a week. Lately, I've been experimenting with various sauces and pasta shapes to see how the factors make a difference in taste, so I gave La Famiglia DelGrosso a try.

I sampled three of eight different sauces, all of which have kitschy titles named after family members. My boyfriend thought Aunt Mary Ann's Sunday Marinara was "light on flavor," but I preferred it to its competitors. A Trader Joe's pomodoro sauce tasted sickly sweet in comparison. Uncle Joe's Vodka Celebration was my favorite of the bunch: the texture was creamy, but the sauce wasn't as light in color as most commercial vodka sauces, which often are too heavy on cream.

The sauce possessed a strong umami quality (incidentally, tomatoes contain high amounts of umami). Uncle Bo's Roasted Red Pepper Tour was made with - you guessed it - roasted red peppers, and it was my sweetie's favorite of the three because of its deep, smoky flavor.

Certainly no commercial variety can replace a homemade pasta sauce, but La Famiglia sauces work in a pinch. They are available at select Whole Foods and other grocers across the country. Have you tried any of the brand's flavors? What did you think of them?

Fast & Easy Dinner: Triple Tomato Soup

YumSugar — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 09:15:28 -0800

If you're desperately missing tomatoes but are mindful of seasonality, this soup is the answer to your dilemma. The savory, umami flavor of tomato is here in full force, but this slurper doesn't require any fresh tomato produce. By adding toast points and shaved asiago cheese, you can turn this into a meal, and if you just can't live without meat, top it with crispy, fried pieces of prosciutto. You'll be pleasantly surprised by how satisfied you are when you read more.

Triple Tomato Soup
From Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients

1 large onion, sliced
1 Tbsp. butter or olive oil
1 28-oz. can whole tomatoes
3/4 cup dried tomatoes (not oil packed)
1/2 of 6-ounce can no-salt-added tomato paste
1 14-oz. can reduced-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1/2 cup sliced celery (1 stalk)
2 Tbsp. snipped fresh parsley or cilantro
2 to 3 tsp. lime juice or lemon juice
Sour cream
Fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley

Directions

In 4-quart Dutch oven cook onion in hot butter, covered, over medium-low heat for 10 minutes or until tender.
Add undrained whole tomatoes, 1/2 cup of the dried tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, celery, and parsley. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes; cool.
Meanwhile, in microwave-safe bowl cover remaining dried tomatoes with water. Microcook on high (100% power) for 1 minute. Cool. Drain. Snip into pieces; set aside.
In blender, blend half of the tomato mixture at a time until smooth.
Return to saucepan; add lime juice, heat through.
Top with sour cream, snipped dried tomatoes, and parsley.

Makes 2 meal-sized servings.

Nutrional Information: Calories 128, Total Fat (g) 4, Saturated Fat (g) 2, Monounsaturated Fat (g) 1, Polyunsaturated Fat (g) 0, Cholesterol (mg) 8, Sodium (mg) 786, Carbohydrate (g) 22, Total Sugar (g) 14, Fiber (g) 5, Protein (g) 6, Vitamin C (DV%) 56, Calcium (DV%) 10, Iron (DV%) 21.

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Calcium = The Sixth Taste?

partysugar — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:00:46 -0700

Scientists in Philadelphia have discovered that mice can taste calcium. Since humans and rodents share many of the same genes, the human tongue should taste calcium as well. For centuries the four basic tastes were sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. However when umami, the fifth "savory" taste, was recognized 100 years ago, the door opened to research other tastes. According to Michael Tordoff, a geneticist who participated in the mice study, a human's palate can detect the mineral. It tastes:

Calcium tastes calcium-y, there isn't a better word for it. It is bitter, perhaps even a little sour. But it's much more because there are actual receptors for calcium, not just bitter or sour compounds.

Tordoff claims that the bitterness of certain vegetables, like bok choy or dark greens, is due to high levels of calcium. Although milk is full of calcium, the fats prevent us from tasting it.

Since I've always thought it was crazy that only four basic tastes exist, the discovery is incredibly interesting, and I think that maybe I've tasted calcium. What do you make of the findings? Have you ever tasted calcium?

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Talking With the Great Thomas Keller

partysugar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:00:11 -0700

Last week the world-renowned, award-winning chef Thomas Keller left his Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry, to speak at a panel discussion in San Francisco. The symposium celebrated the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of the fifth taste, umami. After the day-long event, Keller took some time out to speak with us.

The food industry's Yoda, Keller is a humble and wise chef devoted to the culinary arts. He prefers the quiet hills of Napa to the glittering nights of New York and when I asked where he would be dining that evening, he selflessly replied, "I have to get back to my kitchen to cook the dinner service." To see what else the inspiring chef had to say and find out why he's never gotten into television, check out our exclusive video!

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