Taken from the Japanese word meaning “delicious taste,” umami is used to describe some of the most delicious of foods – including soups, mushrooms, cheese, salad dressing and tomatoes. It’s often considered the fifth taste along with sweet, salty, sour and bitter and often applies to foods we consider to be savory. Somewhat similar to chefs the world over including a dash of sugar or salt to add more flavor to their dishes, a bit of yeast extract can add umami to many foods.

Umami has a harmonizing effect. Rather than intensifying flavor, it takes the bite off bitterness and boosts subtle saltiness. Umami is often considered to be the taste of proteins and protein-rich foods.

“Umami is a savory, meaty taste that lingers for quite a long time and is characteristic of well-matured protein-rich products,” said Professor Dürrschmid from the Institute of Food Science at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna in a 2019 interview. “It takes the edge off bitterness and slightly increases saltiness, but otherwise has little impact on the basic taste varieties. However, when it comes to flavor, which differs from taste in that it is the summary perception of all the characteristics of a foodstuff in the mouth, umami-tasting substances have an intensifying and rounding off effect. This would explain the effect and popularity of yeast extract.”

Ingredients that give dishes an umami taste are not just used in traditional Japanese cooking, like for example in soy sauce or dried fish. The requirement for the savory umami taste can be observed worldwide in different cooking traditions, whether it is spaghetti bolognese with Parmesan cheese or a hearty stew with meat and vegetables.