Umami a Great Influence in Indian Cuisine,chefs Do We Recogonise That ?
Umami “旨味”.is the Japanese word for the fifth basic sense of taste, after bitter, salty, sour and sweet.Umami means deliciousness in Japanese, but translates best as ‘savouriness’ and provides the ‘meaty’ flavour in meat.It is formed from glutamates being detected by receptors on the tongue and is the reason why monosodium glutamate (MSG) is used as a flavour enhancer. It is also found naturally in meats, cheeses and mushrooms,Tomoto,Carrot…French Culinarists Has Long Before Adapted Japanese Cooking Techniques & Incorporated In Their Cuisines. Chefs Like Paul Bocuse,Allain Ducasse,Joel Robuchon, Pierre Gagnaire, are Some to Name.
We Indian Chefs Should Learn Their Skills & Technique to adapt in to indian Cuisine to Create wonderful Dishes with Out Tampering The Indian Authenticity
Why We are Emphasising on Umami So Much- It is the taste That makes You Fell Like Licking Your Finger After a Tasting Meal. If we Identify That Mixtures we can Replicate the Delicious Umami Effect in to each Of Our Dishes.
In Indian Food Knowingly Or UnKnowingly we Use lot of Umami Rich Ingredients. Our Kind of Taste Enhancer “Chat masala ” is UMAMI rich. Thats why our Traditional Tandoor Chefs Dust Every Kebabs Which Chat Masala & makes You Feel Want More.
The Modern Era GRAZING MENU or De-GUSTATION MENU are Evolved From The Japenese KAISEKI-
Sole Of KAISEKI is to Serve Small Amount oF food In various Forms & Tastes ,all Ingredients Should be Picked Or Obtained on the Right Season.
The Strong base of Japanese Cuisine is Dashi- Basic Stock. This Stock Is the UMAMI rich Liquid Chefs used to Cook or Finish almost all Japanese Foods
Dashi is Most Commonly Produced By a Combination Of KOMBU (a kelp Seaweed) & KATSUOBOSHI (Dry Bonito- baby tuna ) The Types of Dashi are ICHIBAN DASHI (Primary) & NIBAN DASHI (Secondary)
Coming To OUR POINT – How we can adapt These Techniques Of Developing Or Intensifying UMAMI Flavor In Indian Food
| Glutamate Contents of Foods | ||
| Food Size | Serving Glutamate (g/serving) |
|
| Tomato juice | 1 cup | 0.827 |
| Tomato | 3 slices | 0.339 |
| Meat loaf dinner | 9 oz. | 0.189 |
| Human breast milk | 1 cup | 0.176 |
| Mushrooms | 1/4 cup | 0.094 |
| Parmesan cheese | 2 Tbsp | 0.047 |
| Corn | 1/2 cup | 0.031 |
| Peas | 1/2 cup | 0.024 |
| Cow’s milk | 1 cup | 0.016 |
| Canned tuna (in water) | 1/2 can | 0.008 |
| Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration | ||
| From www.FineDiningIndian.com |
Properties of umami taste
Umami has a mild but lasting after taste difficult to describe. It induces salivation and a furriness sensation on the tongue, stimulating the throat, the roof and the back of the mouth (for review Yamaguchi, 1998). By itself, umami is not palatable, but it makes a great variety of foods pleasant especially in the presence of a matching aroma. But like other basic tastes, with the exception of sucrose, umami is pleasant only within a relatively narrow concentration range. The optimum umami taste depends also on the amount of salt, and at the same time, low-salt foods can maintain a satisfactory taste with the appropriate amount of umami. In fact, Roinien et al. showed that ratings on pleasantness, taste intensity and ideal saltiness of low salt soups were greater when the soup contained umami, whereas low-salt soups without umami were less pleasant. Some population groups, such as the elderly, may benefit from umami taste because their taste and smell sensitivity is impaired by age and multiple medications. The loss of taste and smell can contribute to a poor nutritional status increasing their risk of disease.
A Simple Recipe Of MURGH MAKHANI (BUTTER CHICKEN) Is enriched enormously with UMAMI
Main Ingredients
Sauce
Ripe Tomato – a major & large Source of Umami
Butter – Moderate Amount in Umami Content
Slat & Sugar –
Other Spices Complements the Entire Dish
Chicken Tikka
The Yoghurt Base Mariande We use also Enriched with UMAMI
When the Dish Is Combined Together we get a Delicious Murgh Makhani , which is Hard To Stop Eating
This is Only One Dish , If we Search Our Indian Cuisine Deeply it Full of Recipes With Ripe Tomatoes , Vegetables with UMAMI richness
We can Come Up with a Seasoning with Dry Tomato & Spices Similar to CHAT MASALA , to get a UMAMI rich Seasoning which Enhances the Taste Buds
” LEAD THE TASTE DEVELOPMENTS BY ADAPTING SOME INTERNATIONAL TECHNIQUES IT HELPS US IN CREATING GREAT RECIPES”
Even World famous Chef Ferran Adria of EL-BULLI is Inspired by japanese Cooking Techniques