Umami taste marks presence at the Mesa Tendências Congress | Press

Stand at the largest gastronomy congress in the Americas will provide information about the fifth basic taste and tasting of foods rich in Umami.

Umami, the fifth basic taste of the human palate, will be present at the eighth edition of the “Semana Mesa SP” event, which takes place from October 25 to 28, at the Senac University Center, in São Paulo (SP). A 9 m² stand, set up in the space where the “Mesa Tendências Congress” takes place, will provide congress participants and visitors with information and tasting of foods rich in Umami.

Still little known to the general public, umami is a basic taste that, in 2000, after a confirmatory study by the University of Miami, joined the already known salty, sweet, sour, and bitter. Because of this, the Umami Committee Brazil decided to participate in the event, with the aim of popularizing the fifth taste among chefs, gastronomy professionals, and specialized media. The intention is to reach the main opinion leaders of the sector.

Considered the largest food and wine event in the Americas, “Semana Mesa SP” received around 11,000 people just last year, which further increases expectations for 2011. To top it off, the theme of this edition of the Mesa Tendências Congress, “Italy-Brazil: Towards a Conscious Cuisine,” has total synergy with the fifth taste, since Italian cuisine uses a series of foods rich in Umami, such as tomatoes and cheeses.

The Congress will feature the elite of world gastronomy, who will give lectures on what is trending in the sector. Among the speakers are: Alex Atala, Helena Rizzo, Massimo Bottura, Shane Osborn, Atul Kochhar, Bem Roche, and Bel Coelho. During the breaks of the congress, a video about the Umami taste will be shown, to reinforce the concept among participants.

Parallel Activities

During the event, several actions will take place simultaneously around the 8,000 m² of the Senac University Center. Among the parallel activities, the Umami Committee promotes the lecture “The fifth taste – Umami – science and gastronomic pleasures,” given by Hellen Dea Barros Maluly, professor of Bromatology at the Oswaldo Cruz Faculty of Pharmaceutical and Biochemical Sciences; PhD in Food Science, Master in Pharmacology, and specialist in Analytical Toxicology from the State University of Campinas.

The lecture takes place on 10/25/2011, at 4 p.m., in auditorium 3.

About the Umami Committee

The Umami Committee Brazil is a multidisciplinary group created to discuss topics related to the discovery of the fifth basic taste of the human palate, Umami. The group has a direct relationship with the Umami Information Center (UIC), a non-profit organization dedicated to research on the subject.

Race Comunicação

Information about Umami for press: (11) 2548-0720 / 2894-5607

Rogério Artoni – rogerioartoni@agenciarace.com.br

André Ranieri – andreranieri@agenciarace.com.br