Sweet, savoury, sour, bitter and... umami. A fifth flavour has recently been added to the four traditional flavours which, although it has been around for a long time, was not identified or recognised as such until a short while ago. In fact, it's thanks to science that we know it exists. At the beginning of the 20th Century, a Japanese chemistry professor isolated one of the main components behind this flavour; glutamic acid. This flavour didn't fit into any of the other four identified flavours and he baptised it umami, which would come to mean "delicious" or "tasty". [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="333"] Porcelain hand by Pordamsa[/caption] Explaining it is as subjective as explaining a colour. You just have to try it. But science, once again, helps us to outline its properties. This mysterious fifth flavour is detected by receptors in the centre of the tongue and is activated with various foods that contain this amino acid as standard: ripe tomatoes, mushrooms, mature cheeses (particularly parmesan), ham, anchovies and soy sauce. Apart from giving a special flavour to those dishes that include any of these products, umami also has another important characteristic: it has the ability to enhance flavours. And for this reason chefs all over the world keep it in mind when cooking and investigate the most effective ways to use it. One of these chefs is American David Chang, of Korean origin. At the end of November, during an address at Harvard University, Chang related the advances carried out by the team belonging to the Momofuku group in their investigation of umami, particularly through the use of olive oil. To give a wider perspective, the address was begun by Catalan chef Carles Tejedor (Via Veneto) who sang the virtues of this product. Tejedor prepared a yogurt dessert marinated with extra olive oil accompanied by crumbly rustic bread made with 50% olive oil. He served it in a porcelain dish in the shape of a hand made by Pordamsa especially for this conference and also representative of these five primary flavours. There is much research that mixes science and cooking and some experts assure us that there is still a long way to go and lots to discover in the world of flavours. And that there are more candidates for new flavours, but that in order to confirm them we need to keep experimenting and having fun cooking. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="555"] Carles Tejedor at Harvard[/caption]