Auguste Escoffier and Umami
I just finished reading an excellent book by Jonah Lehrer called Proust was a Neuroscientist. As a foodie, just the connection between Proust and madeleines is riveting, but once I started reading, I was particularly drawn to the chapter on August Escoffier, the father of modern French cuisine. According to Lehrer, the novelty he provided was his use of meat stocks to make a myriad of sauces.
Why is meat stock so delicious if the tongue can only taste sweet, salty, bitter, and sour? Because of umami. Umami means "deliciousness" in Japanese and refers to the taste of L-glutamate. L-glutamate comes from glutamic acid. The author writes that: "Glutamic acid is itself tasteless. Only when the protein is ionized by cooking, fermentation, or a little ripening in the sun does the molecule degenerate into L-glutamate, an amino acid that the tongue can taste."
Although Escoffier intuited the existence of umami long before science, scientists eventually caught up in 2000 and 2002 with the discovery of two receptors on the tongue that can only sense glutamate and L-amino acids. Inspired by the art of Escoffier and the science that followed, old chicken carcasses and a medley of vegetable scraps are simmering away on my very own stove as I write. Now that's what I call artistic/scientific inspiration!
Why is meat stock so delicious if the tongue can only taste sweet, salty, bitter, and sour? Because of umami. Umami means "deliciousness" in Japanese and refers to the taste of L-glutamate. L-glutamate comes from glutamic acid. The author writes that: "Glutamic acid is itself tasteless. Only when the protein is ionized by cooking, fermentation, or a little ripening in the sun does the molecule degenerate into L-glutamate, an amino acid that the tongue can taste."
Although Escoffier intuited the existence of umami long before science, scientists eventually caught up in 2000 and 2002 with the discovery of two receptors on the tongue that can only sense glutamate and L-amino acids. Inspired by the art of Escoffier and the science that followed, old chicken carcasses and a medley of vegetable scraps are simmering away on my very own stove as I write. Now that's what I call artistic/scientific inspiration!
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