Kokumi

As processors add to their products' flavor spectrum, one of the taste sensations many are targeting is kokumi. Bruns describes kokumi as a flavor enhancement that goes beyond umami, which is generally achieved with glutamic acid.

The uthors then had to quantify the compounds suspected of giving the kokumi taste and evaluate their potential contribution by recombination and omission sensory studies.

A sixth taste, kokumi, has recently been proposed. This is not in itself a specific taste, but a taste enhancer, which increases the intensity of salt, sweet, and umami tastes. Kokumi is produced in food by calcium ions and particularly by the tripeptide glutathione (γ-L-glutamyl-L-cysteinyl-glycine), and acts by inducing a response in calcium-sensing receptor cells [134].

The secret behind the more delectable of the two dishes is the kokumi ingredients Youssef has spiked it with. Kokumi is a flavour concept originating in Japan that some foodies think could rank alongside the four familiar fundamental tastes, salt, sweet, bitter and sour. With many food flavours actually due to smell rather than taste, the fact that I experience kokumi’s potency with my nose disabled certainly suggests something special is going on.

“When you reheat a stew, or a slice of lasagne in your microwave after the flavours have had time to develop, you enjoy what’s known as the sixth taste sensation kokumi—which is lesser known than the other five tastes—sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami.”