Families across the nation turn to beef as a main course on the dinner table. During Beef Month in May we celebrate the Kansas beef producers and processors who help to fill our collective dinner plates as we savor the uniquely delicious flavor of beef.
While man has appreciated the juicy meatiness of beef for centuries, modern science is responsible for helping us understand the origin of the taste we crave.
I’m talking about umami (pronounced oo-MOM-ee)– derived from the Japanese word for delicious– which describes the taste of meaty, savory goodness.
To fully appreciate umami, we need to go back– probably to junior high biology, when you drew a map of the human tongue and identified the areas of the four basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. You were probably taught that the flavor of foods came from a combination of these four basic tastes along with other sensations such as aroma, texture, juiciness, mouthfeel and color.
Fast-forward to 1997, when a researcher at the University of Miami Medical School identified taste buds on the tongue that respond to umami, making it the bona fide “fifth taste.” Umami has been described as “meaty and savory” or “yummy” or “indescribably delicious.”
The ability to detect these five tastes has been key to our survival through the ages, directing us toward foods vital for health and growth, and away from potential poisons. Sweet means energy-giving carbohydrates. Salty indicates essential minerals. Umami signals life-giving protein. Sour says “proceed with caution” since many foods sour as they deteriorate. And bitter warns “spit it out” because many natural toxins taste bitter.
When it comes to flavor, small is big!
Dr. Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking, points out that big food compounds such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats are not very flavorful, but their smaller component parts (sugars from carbohydrates, amino acids from proteins and fatty acids from fats) are extremely flavorful. Sources of umami are amino acids and nucleotides– small, intensely flavorful components. Aging, fermenting, ripening and cooking are all great ways to break big compounds down into these flavorful gems.
We’ve also learned that umami compounds are synergistic– which means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Combining two umami ingredients can produce EIGHT TIMES as much flavor as either one of the compounds alone. Talk about tasty!
Since May is Beef Month, it’s appropriate to note that beef comes with three natural sources of umami: glutamic acid, glutamate, and nucleotides– all of which account for its great natural flavor. It’s also no accident that beef is often paired with ingredients such as cheese, bacon, mushrooms, wine and tomatoes. These foods contain umami, too, creating the complex, delicious flavors that make the finished beef dish many times more appealing.
The meat industry is responsible for as much as $12.9 billion in economic activity in Kansas. Meat packing and prepared meat products manufacturing make up the largest share of the food processing industry in our state and this industry provides employment for over 18,700 Kansans. While we celebrate the Kansas beef industry in May, we now know that umami accounts for the delicious flavor in our favorite beef dinner.
For more information about choosing and serving beef to your family, contact the Ellis County Extension Office for the Extension publication, “Beef: Choices, Preparation and Flavor” or find it online at the K-State Research and Extension Bookstore at www.bookstore.ksre.ksu.edu.
Linda K. Beech is Ellis County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.