Tasty, healthy, and umami starters | Press

Antipasto, starter, hors d’oeuvre, and appetizer are some of the many names given to the small portions of food served before the main dishes. Whether simple, refined, elaborate, or even store-bought, the proposal is to whet the appetite and “distract” the customer while choosing the meal or waiting for the dish.

Spreads, breads, cold cuts, bruschettas, broths, fritters… options abound! However, the challenge of eating healthily also includes starters. “It is not necessary to be on a diet to eat with health in mind, and this is not synonymous with eating poorly. It is indeed possible to find tasty preparations that are also good for health,” explains Mariana Rosa, nutritionist of the Umami Committee.

Umami foods can be an alternative. “The fifth basic taste of the human palate brings several health benefits, and foods that have this taste can both improve the attractiveness and flavor of preparations, as well as contribute to the individual’s health,” points out the specialist.

See below three options of healthy and delicious appetizers to prepare at home:

Caprese Salad: Simple and colorful, it contains tomato, basil, and buffalo mozzarella cheese. Besides being a healthy and fresh choice, it has low calories: 85 kcal. The salad also provides proteins, calcium, vitamin C, and carbohydrates. Umami makes its presence in the tomato (with 246 mg of glutamate in 100 g of the food). These are light and non-seasonal ingredients.

Beef Carpaccio: Of Italian origin, carpaccio is made with eye of round (beef cut). It is another light and fresh suggestion for hotter days. The dish contains iron, proteins, fats, and, in a 100-gram portion, the starter contains 135 kcal. There are several recipes, but the most common one is the one that includes, over the meat slices (which brings 30 mg of glutamate in 100 g of protein); parmesan shavings (1680 mg of glutamate in 100 g) and mustard sauce. Tasty and delicate – served with bread.

Green Asparagus Cream: Creamy, the 250 g portion of the cream equals 103 kcal. Rich in folic acid, asparagus contains proteins, carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, vitamin C, B, and fights free radicals. Green asparagus presents 50 mg of free glutamate.

UMAMI

It is the fifth basic taste of the human palate, discovered in 1908 by Japanese scientist Kikunae Ikeda. It was scientifically recognized in the year 2000, when researchers at the University of Miami confirmed the existence of specific receptors for this taste in the taste buds. The amino acid glutamic acid and the nucleotides inosinate and guanylate are the main Umami substances. The two main characteristics of Umami are the increase in salivation and the continuity of taste for a few minutes after food ingestion. To learn more, visit portalumami.com.br.