Back in 1907, Professor Ikeda Kikunae made a very interesting discovery. According to him, there is one more taste than the familiar sweet, salty, sour and bitter, which is defined as a combination of them all. This is called the umami taste.
Here is an explanation to make this a little simpler. Fruits that you store in fridge will never have that taste of fruits that we just detached from the tree. There is something lacking and they lure less when they are already stored at home.
What causes this to happen? After storage, or some kind of heat treatment, a decreased palatability is found on the product. To be able to eat the food is always fresh as if just cooked, the Japanese use algae in their kitchen, called kombu.
In fact, they managed to "refresh" the taste of food because they contain within themselves glutamic acid. Salt is produced by acid called sodium glutamate. That is sodium glutamate is believed to be the material to awaken the umami taste. Umami taste makes food terribly appetizing and delicious.
Once it becomes clear how come and what umami is, it is logical to ask whether in fact the use of monosodium glutamate is safe for us and our health ? Let's start from the fact that this substance actually has no taste or smell, but manages to improve the food, making it very much irresistible.
There is a white or yellowish color that is produced by fermenting cane, sugar beets and corn starch. A familiar name is given to sodium glutamate E621. It turns out that this so-called additive is used a lot - ordered right after sugar and salt.
Sodium glutamate, because the action it has on food, strengthens and stimulates appetite. Of course, too much of any one thing can lead to side effects. If you do not go overboard, there is no danger to human health.
There are many indications that glutamate is the culprit for many of the worst diseases of modern mankind. It is used mostly in Chinese and Japanese cuisine and often referred to as Chinese spice.
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