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I have a new addiction, which is watching Masterchef Australia. – A cooking competition with the participation of about 24 participants. The season lasts 53 episodes. If they wear a white apron, they are cooking for immunity, and if they wear a black apron, they can be sent home if their dish is not good.
The judging panel consists of different personalities and people who got the most from their stripes in the kitchen. It's up to them to sample up to 24 dishes sometimes. During that tasting, I was amazed. Australian chef Andy Allen in particular often says: “This dish is full of umami flavour.” And I don't understand the word “umami”. I wondered if it could be some kind of soy sauce. Because I have already noticed that a lot of cooking is done with an oriental touch. It is of course not surprising that Australia is located next to Asia. But it was not because it also appeared in sweets and ice cream for example.
So, to my best friend, Google. I do this a lot, when I see something I Google the details. So far looking for umami. What was my surprise! We have a new basic flavour! In addition to sweet, salty, sour, and bitter, umami is simply known as the primary taste on your tongue! He never knew! And in the middle of your tongue! It was discovered in Japan around 1909, a long time ago, and is known as “savoury” or “salty”. In fact, this means you are sensitive to glutamate, an amino acid and flavor enhancer. Often found in stock cubes.
But it's also found naturally in ripe tomatoes, mushrooms, sardines, aged cheese, truffles, seaweed, fried onions, garlic, black olives, duck, ginger and more flavors that add depth to your dish. I still can't get over the fact that I, who love cooking so much, never knew this. So let's get started. I'll make some standard recipes, but then I'll try to add more umami to them. Warm up the spices a little before using them, add more spices, cook longer, grill them, think more about the flavors you want to get, what goes together, and YES! Standard recipes are improving too! The boys savor carefully as Omanuela works hard again. They chew approvingly, and I can move on to the next round.
Manuela Beagle
