The umami flavor, a word that means delicious taste, is present in foods rich in amino acids, especially glutamate, such as meats, seafood, cheeses, tomatoes and onions. The umami enhances the taste of food and stimulates the production of saliva, increasing the interaction of food with taste buds and bringing a high sense of pleasure when eating.
This flavor is felt after the perception of sweet and sour flavors, and the food and fast food industry often adds a flavor enhancer called monosodium glutamate to enhance the umami taste of food, making it more pleasurable and addictive.
Food with Umami taste
Foods that have umami flavor are those rich in amino acids and nuclotídeos, especially those that have the substances glutamate, inosinato and guanilato, like:
- Protein rich foods: meat, chicken, eggs and seafood;
- Vegetables: carrots, peas, corn, mature tomatoes, potatoes, onions, nuts, asparagus, cabbage, spinach;
- Strong cheeses such as parmesan, cheddar and emmental;
- Industrialized products: shoyu sauce, ready-made soups, frozen ready-made food, seasoning in cubes, instant noodles, fast food.
To learn how to feel more umami taste, one must be attentive, for example, to the end of the taste of a very mature tomato. Initially appears acid and bitter taste of the tomato, and then comes the umami flavor. The same procedure can be done with Parmesan cheese.
Macaroni Recipe to Feel the Umami
The pasta is the perfect dish to taste the umami flavor, because it is rich in foods that bring this flavor: meat, tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese.
Ingredients:
- 1 chopped onion
- parsley, garlic, pepper and salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- tomato sauce or extract to taste
- 2 chopped tomatoes
- 500 g of pasta
- 500 g Ground Meat
- 3 tablespoons grated parmesan
Method of preparation :
Put the pasta to cook in boiling water. Sauté the onion and the garlic in the oil until golden. Add the ground beef and cook for a few minutes, adding the seasonings to taste (parsley, pepper and salt). Add the tomato sauce and chopped tomatoes, letting cook for about 30 minutes over low heat with the pan semi capped or until the meat is cooked. Mix the sauce with the pasta and add the grated parmesan on top. Serve hot.
How the industry uses umami to vitiate
The food industry adds a flavor enhancer called monosodium glutamate to make the food tastes more addictive. This artificial substance simulates the umami flavor present in natural foods and increases the sense of pleasure in eating.
Thus, when consuming a fast food burger, for example, this additive enhances the good experience of the food, causing the consumer to fall in love with that flavor and consume more of these products. However, exaggerated consumption of industrialized products rich in monosodium glutamate such as hamburger, frozen food, ready-made soups, instant noodles and seasoning cubes is linked to weight gain and obesity.
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