How to experience umami?

Welcome to the umami experience

We’ve prepared a simple step-by-step guide to help you experience the fifth basic taste. Shall we begin?

You will need:

1 glass of water
1 sweet candy of any flavor
Pieces of Parmesan cheese*

*Or 1 ripe tomato (if you are vegan or lactose intolerant).

Before experiencing umami, it’s important to understand the difference between taste and flavor. To do that:

1. Drink some water
2. Open the candy wrapper
3. Hold your nose and put the candy in your mouth

What you are experiencing is sweetness in its pure form.

Now:

4. Release your breath
5. Notice the flavor of the candy, it can be strawberry, grape, or any other ingredient

Did you know taste is different from flavor?

Taste refers only to the sense of the palate: specific receptors on the tongue recognize a stimulus from substances in foods. Flavor, on the other hand, is recognized by the combination of two or more senses: taste (the palate) and smell (the food’s aromas).

Hear what a specialist has to say

Perceiving umami was the moment that shaped my understanding of Japan’s flavors. The biggest challenge when I dove into Japanese cuisine was grasping this fifth taste. It was a complete re-education of the palate—conscious effort to refine perception and appreciate how deep and sophisticated the balance of flavors becomes when we center the gustatory axis around umami. I also learned to truly perceive each ingredient’s natural deliciousness. It’s the taste that permeates my life in the kitchen, and the pursuit of umami has guided me along this delightful path through Japanese cuisine.”

Chef Telma Shimizu, Ambassador for the Diffusion of Japanese Cuisine and chef-owner of Aizomê restaurant.