Forrest and I took Monday off from work to attend the "New Frontiers of Taste's, 100 years of Umami celebration." The first part of the day started with a panel discussion featuring food scientists, professors, chefs and sommeliers. The event was put together by the UMAMI Information Center and who knew such an organization existed??? I mean it's like having the Institute of Sucrose put together a celebration of all things sweet...
Interestingly enough, umami (or the 5th flavor) was discovered by a Japanese scientist 100 years ago but has only been publically recognized by the rest of western society since the mid 80's. The flavor is molecularly "glutamate" and it is what gives food a savory / rich flavor sensation. There was some interesting disucssion around how the receptors for umami might have evolved to make humans interested in eating proteins whereas the sucrose receptors make us essentially crave carbohydrates.
Anyhoo - I am totally nerding out now, but now nearly as much as the folks who were in attendance. In comparison, I am merely "interested" in food where some of the other attendees could be better classified as "fanatics"....
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