so everyone has known since the days of titchener that there are only four elements of taste, right? bitter, sweet, salty, and sour. wrong! there's a new taste on the block, and it's kicking butt and taking names! well, not really new, but semi new to western culture. it's called..... (drumroll please) babababababababababababababa............. umami!
umami is described by the japanese as an "earthy taste". examples of this include: soy sauce, parmesan cheese, anchovies, and ripe tomatoes. hey, they could make it into a pizza! according to wikipedia (which people shouldn't diss, in studies it was found more accurate than a regular encyclopedia) umami was discovered in 1908, by kikunae ikeda while researching the powerful flavor of seaweed broth. this discovery led to him discovering msg, so you can partially blame him for america's obesity crisis if you want. i'm willing to bet that because of us he's a very rich man.
but there are healthy ways to eat umami. it's the taste westerners often discribe as savory, so think meats and stuff. you can also flavor your dishes with an soy sauce, or if thats too unhealthy fo you, braggs. yummy!
so take that titchener! you are now even less believable than you were before. you weren't even right about tastes. (does it show that i don't like structuralism very much?) so eat the humble pie kikunea made for you. it tastes just like msg.
*note:you can comment below, and if any of you happen to know jonah lehrer through the six degrees of seperation, tell him to return my email!
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