Ancestral Good Taste in Modern Cuisine

The Greco-Roman civilization had already identified a hidden taste in preparations derived from the fermentation of protein-based foods.

It is common to confuse the terms taste and flavor, for which, as preliminary information, we will refer to the concept described by Barb Stuckey to Marcela Mazzei in an interview for the CUKMI website, regarding the book “Taste: What You’re Missing. The Passionate Eater’s Guide To Why Good Food Tastes Good”. In that interview, the author states:
“Taste is what we experience when food comes into contact with the tongue and other surfaces of the mouth. And since there are only five things we can taste (sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami), this sense is limited to a very reduced ‘palette.’ We experience smell when we detect volatile aromas; the number of aromas we can detect is enormous, and odor is what gives food its characteristic signature. Through touch we experience texture, sometimes even pain, as happens when we eat spicy dishes. The combination of these three sensory experiences forms the concept of flavor.

Therefore, the flavor of chocolate—to give a delicious example—has a bitter, sweet, and (possibly) sour taste, combined with aromas of toast and nuts, a mouthfeel between creamy and oily, which comes from the fact that chocolate melts at body temperature. This is the flavor of chocolate that fascinates us so much.

To these precise concepts, we can add an example to clarify further: with tomatoes we can create a pasta sauce or a jam. In both, the flavor and aromas of tomato will prevail; however, the first has a salty taste and the second a sweet one.

The Five Tastes in the Mediterranean Basin: A Phenomenal Sensory Impact — the garum paradoxus

“The Latin adjective paradoxus, of evident Greek origin, designates that which is marvelous, astonishing, extraordinary, contrary to all expectations; however, like the Portuguese term fenômeno, it encompasses a wide range of connotations…”

“…Apicius, in the cookbook attributed to him, shows the use of such an adjective in culinary language: in the opening recipe of De re coquinaria, he refers to a spiced cooked wine, which, like certain potions or mixtures, results in a wonderful drink, not only due to its preparation process and exotic ingredients but also for its healing properties, closely related to garum…” (Lejavitzer, A., 2000).

It was only in the year 2000 that the journal Nature Neuroscience revealed the discovery of a taste receptor on the tongue specific to this amino acid, leading to the widespread acceptance that umami was a new basic taste. This discovery sparked remarkable growth in the study of taste physiology and also in research in the fields of gastronomy and, of course, oenology. The umami effect then began its journey between reality and trend, including in the world of wine.

Believers rely on different theories, such as the one stating that glutamate is an amino acid perceived only in its free state, released through processes like fermentation or aging—meaning a reserve wine will contain more umami than a young one. Therefore, only more complex wines, which have developed umami during their maturation, are ideal for pairing with foods that have also developed a full flavor. Others defend theories such as the ability of certain Sherry wines to enhance umami taste due to their chemical composition.

We are not far from the time when prestigious wines will begin displaying the word “umami” on labels as a mark of distinction.

It is impossible to discuss garum without clearly establishing that the tastes perceived by the palate are five and have always been so.

Western gastronomic culture traditionally identifies four tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. However, the Greco-Roman civilization of the Mediterranean Basin—and many before them—clearly identified the flavor present in fermented foods of protein origin, which modern science later associated with the presence of free glutamic acid and its derived salts (E621, classified as GRAS), as well as some 5′-ribonucleotides (E635), specifically inosinate and guanylate.

Humans in all known civilizations sought to release these compounds to provide a characteristic taste and enhance the inherent flavors of foods.

In general terms, the taste associated with umami compounds derives from the fermentation or enzymatic digestion of protein chains, which, when broken down, release compounds responsible for this flavor profile.

Garum originated historically in Greek cities near the Black Sea, where it was made from a fish called γάρον. This ingredient, considered essential in Mediterranean cuisine—in Greece, Rome, and North Africa—was made from salted and fermented fish (including viscera). The viscera released digestive enzymes that drove fermentation, producing umami compounds in a dark liquid called liquamen, which, once filtered, was used as a basic-taste ingredient. The solid residue, hallec, was also used as seasoning but was less valued than garum, particularly the highly prized garum sociorum (“garum of the allies”), the most expensive variety from New Carthage (today’s Cartagena, in Hispania Tarraconensis).

The process can be compared to the inversion of sucrose, which enhances sweetness through acid or enzymatic digestion, resulting in glucose and fructose. Inverted sugar is 25–30% sweeter than sucrose. In this case, sweetness is enhanced by releasing monosaccharides, while in protein digestion, compounds responsible for umami taste are released.

Substrates capable of generating this valued taste can come from plants (e.g., wheat proteins, legumes such as soy or quinoa), animals (meat, fish viscera, milk), as well as seaweeds, mushrooms, or herbs such as epazote (Mexico) and paico (South America). Carbohydrates also play an important role by providing energy for the biochemical processes.

In fact, epazote and huauzontle, both of the Chenopodiaceae family, as well as quinoa, are used as seasonings that provide a characteristic umami taste in broths, soups, sauces, and moles, such as beef with huauzontle or huauzontle fritters with tomato sauce—a true umami festival.

“Although glutamic acid has been known as a chemical compound for nearly 150 years, its sensory properties only began to be valued in 1908, when Dr. Kikunae Ikeda first isolated it from kelp and identified it as responsible for umami taste.” His research at the beginning of the 20th century clearly showed that glutamic acid and its salts were responsible for the characteristic taste of foods like kombu, which could be consumed directly or used to prepare dashi in its various forms, especially in miso soup.

This highly prized taste was not exclusive to Eastern cuisine. Anthropological studies, as we saw in ancient American civilizations, indicate that both Mesoamerican and Andean-Amazonian food cultures included umami in their ancestral gastronomic palette. In short, this characteristic taste is tied to the culinary excellence of human civilizations across the world.