On Mon, 7 Dec 2009 13:36:29 -0600, Nunya Bidnits wrote:

> Nick Cramer said:
>> Is this just a marketing ploy by Kikkoman? Seems to me that you get
>> umami when you have the right balance of sweet, sour, salty, bitter
>> (and spicy/hot) for the dish you're preparing.
>>
>> Spicy/hot. Maybe that should be the fifth flavor. Wide range of
>> intensities, durations and location of effects (different parts of the
>> mouth, tongue, throat), sweat (face, brow, top or back of head, back).
>>
>> Please educate me. Thanks.
>
> I agree on spicy as a fifth flavor.
>
> As far as umami, given the various foods purported to have that flavor, it's
> not making a lot of sense, unless it's just another word for savory.
>
> One of the cooking competition shows, either Top Chef or Next Iron Chef, I
> don't recall, had a competition where the contestants had to incorporate
> umami, and they had some renowned asian chef who I had never heard of
> (that's doesn't mean much) judging their entries, including whether or not
> and how well they had made use of "umami."
>
> I often tell people, especially when the conversation is about barbecue or
> asian cooking, and especially pertaining to sauces, that I am a savory guy,
> not a sweet guy. Maybe that means I'm an umami guy. ;-)
>
> MartyB in KC

i'll repeat myself and point you to *wikipedia*:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami>

so yeah, savory, but there seem to be distinct receptors on the tongue for
it, just like salty, sweet, bitter and sour.

your pal,
blake