To understand this taste better we have insights from Erin Alexander, Editor at Food 52, who published about her experience at the 2018 World Umami Forum sponsored by Ajinomoto Co. Inc., where chefs, food writers and academics traversed.  Erin referred to the representation of Umami recipes presented by Chef Christopher Koetke, beginning with umami lathered Worcestershire sauce and good old fashioned tomato sauce, working his way through to whip up a spicy Thai papaya salad (or som tum), made up of dried shrimps and fish sauce - highlighting rich, savory flavour.

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Chef Sanya from the award winning Thai restaurant (The Royal Budha) is shares his special shrimp and papaya Som Tum salad recipe on the company website. Som (Thai: ส้ม) is a north-eastern Thai word means sour taste and Tum (Thai: ตำ) means pounding with pestle to crush or break ingredients. Somtum is a distinctive-sour and spicy dish that is made by using a pestle and mortar to crush and mix all ingredients together.  Many popular dishes are derived from the sharing of recipes of basic dishes enjoyed by the general community in their day to day living.  When migrant workers moved from Isaan to Bangkok, they shared their love of green papaya salad. The recipe evolved over the years and was given the Thai name som tam. Som tam effectively meaning "pounded sour."

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Som Tum Salad

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Ingredients

Thai Green Papaya               200 grams
Thai Red Chilli                      10 grams
Palm Sugar                            30 grams
Prawns                                   60 grams
Peanuts                                  20 grams
Fresh Tomato                        40 grams
Thai Tamarind                      20 grams
Thai Long Beans                   20 grams
Fish Sauce                              30 grams
Fresh  Lemon                        30 grams
Carrot                                     20 grams
Garlic                                      10 grams

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Method

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Use a stone mortar and pestle to mash the Thai chilli 
Add all vegetable ingredients into a pot and bring to boil for just 2 minutes
Combine the fish sauce, lemon, tamarind and palm sugar
Then add  prawns and peanuts, cooking for just 2 minutes
Now simply assemble it on a  salad plate and serve.

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Chef Christopher Koetke finished up cooking a central American dish using dried meat, generally beef or pork, called machaca, a Mexican dried meat (usually made from beef or pork; the drying process adds ton of umami), rolled into scrambled eggs.  Northern indigenous people were known to have consumed this dish, but with venison, well before the Spaniards arrived and absorbed the recipe into their diets.  This form of preservation of meat did not require refrigeration and is understood that machaca rolls were prepared and used for long trips by indigenous groups according to https://www.vamonostomexico.com. 

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Machaca or Machacado is a traditional indigenous dish of Mexico, originally using venison instead of beef.  It is often served with soft tortilla burritos, fried in an iron comal in lard or butter.  Machaca is readily available in several northern Mexican states of Sonora and Sinaloa.   It is believed it became a popular recipe in the XVIII century when preservation of food was needed for longer periods.

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By 1928 in the northeast of the country, in the municipality of Cienega de Flores, being the Nuevo Leon state, people tired of only eating dehydrated meat with lemon though. Engineers and builders of the free highway to Laredo at the time, happened to ask a lady (Tia Lencha) to improve on the meal.  She added pork, lard, chilli, tomato, onion and eggs, eventuating in what is now called Machacado.  Served often with refried beans cooked in a clay pot.  This created the name for this location as 'the cradle of the machacado with eggs', a slogan which remains advertised today.

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Machaca/Machacado

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Ingredients

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1kg Beef Tenderloin
1.5 tablespoons (22g) fine Sea-Salt
2 teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
100ml Vegetable Oil
3-10 medium (30g) (minced) Garlic Cloves
2 Green Bell Peppers
1 White Onion
5 Tomatoes
Eggs (optional)

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Method

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Tips:

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• A very low oven (or a dehydrator) dries out the beef to a jerky-like texture without burning it.

• The spiky tenderizing teeth on a meat pounder are perfect for shredding the dried beef to bits.

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This method fine tunes the beef's flavour, providing much more with less.

More traditional approaches marinate  sliced or strips of beef using salt and garlic, leaving the meat to dry under the hot desert sun.  This technique should be done with care as you don't want bacteria causing issues if not done correctly.  This natural drying procedure requires several days and, once ready, the meat appears like jerky. But the defining difference which makes it machaca is the process of what happens next: Pound the dried meat, generally grounded or crushed, mostly by hand, by a large, coarse mortar and pestle, continuing until it is broken into small pieces. Save the machaca then in a zip-lock back for later use, whether that's folding it into scrambled eggs to make the Sonoran dish machacado con huevos, throwing it into a braise to rehydrate and soften, or perhaps turning it into a burrito filling by simmering tomatoes and onions with the meat filling.

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Determining the cut of beef for machaca is based on personal preference or, often, what is most affordable. Chuck roast, top sirloin, or the brisket (as mentioned here) all suffice. Brisket can work well because of the way the muscle fibres in the cut separate with ease after drying. If brisket is not the choice, be sure to trim most of the fat off the cap and, if you can, and consider freezing it for an hour before you slice it, as part frozen meat is easier to slice thinly.

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Rather than relying on a hot, dry climate, this recipe takes utilises your oven (a dehydrator can be equally effective). Firstly, dry the salted and seasoned beef in a very low oven—that can be  just by using the oven's "keep warm" setting, or you can set to its lowest possible temperature, simply regulating the heat by opening the door minimally as needed. You should use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven doesn't get over heated.  

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When the beef becomes dry, go ahead and pound it.  Use a mortar and pestle if you want, however, the jagged tenderizing teeth on a meat pounding mallet tend to work well. Take it easy as the pounding can be tiring on your hand and wrist, so take rests in between.  Avoid considering a food processor to shred the beef, as it will only tear the meat into pieces too small for machaca.

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Directions

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1. Put the oven racks to upper and lower positions and preheat oven to “warm”.   An oven thermometer will confirm the temperature is correct at  60 to 70°C (140 and 160°F).  Alternatively, set oven to the lowest temp and just adjust the temperature by ensuring the door is partly ajar and/or opening and closing it as needed when monitoring the oven thermometer. Alternatively, you can use a dehydrator; setting the temperature of the dehydrator to 63°C (145°F).

2. Slice brisket against the grain into about 3- by 1-inch pieces, which are 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick on average. In a large bowl, mix the beef strips with garlic, black pepper, and salt evenly.

3. Line two rimmed baking sheets with wire racks. Arrange beef on the wire racks into a single layer, but do not let the pieces touch.  Put both baking sheets into the oven and have dry for 30 minutes. Turn over the beef slices and dry for 30 minutes more.   Then rotate the baking sheets top to bottom and front to back and keep drying in oven, turn over again once or twice more, until the beef has darkened and dried to a jerky-type texture, being around 2 hours longer. When it is dry, let the machaca cool right down to room temperature.

4. Ensure you have a strong work surface that won't move or slide as you pound away at the machaca. Working with 3 to 4 slices of machaca simultaneously, cutting the pieces into 1/4-inch strips. Put the strips together in a flat, tightly grouped layer on the work surface; then, using the spiked side of a meat pounder/tenderizer, smash machaca until the beef breaks apart into shreds and smaller pieces (about 150 short, hard strikes, dependent on how hard you strike and the design of the tenderizer); keep re-gathering the pieces of beef together as you prevent them from flying away. Your hands can tear apart any remaining pieces that are larger than a pebble. You should eventually have a mix of light fluff, crumbs, and small pebble-size pieces.  Remember, part of this process is the experience of making a dish from ancient times.

5. The shredded machaca can be cooked into a recipe immediately, or refrigerated in an airtight container for approximately 1 week, or frozen in zip-lock bags with the air pushed out for up to 1 month.

6. Very simply now, turn Machaca to Machacado by finely chopping the onion and garlic and heating the oil in the pan to fry.  Chop tomatoes into cubes and slice bell peppers into julienne strips, sauteeing them in the frying pan.  Once this combination is ready, add the machaca and reduce the heat, put a lid on the pan to allow the veggies and meat release their juices.  You can add eggs, should you choose, and scramble altogether, taking approximately 5 to 7 minutes.  Add spices and/or replace the bell peppers with serrano ones.

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Notes

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A whole brisket has two distinct parts: the flat and the point. The flat is the more common cut, and it's much leaner than the point, though it will sometimes have a fat cap on it. For this recipe, you want the lean beef of the flat (trimmed of its fat cap), so make sure not to buy the point by accident.

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Chef Andrew Zimmern created dehydrated tomatoes, pureeing them into an umami-rich powder that’s perfect for sprinkling over savory dishes. He was inspired to create this from becoming obsessed with tomato potato chips in Toronto and wanting to replicate the flavour.

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To dehydrate tomatoes, they are just like applying this process toother fruits and vegetables you choose to deyhdrate, the sugars concentrate, while the taste tends to become more pronouced, meaning only need to add a little to get a lot of punch in return.

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If you rate yourself as a tomato aficionado, planting or purchasing a range of heirloom tomatoes, you can also add nuanced taste to the powder by selecting heirlooms with particular flavour profiles.

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Tip: Tomato powder is rich and a bit sweet, pairing well with both paprika and garlic.

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Generally tomatoes are dried in a dehydrator, but you can dry them in the oven or even outside in a warm, dry climate.  Most ovens fail to go under 200 degrees, meaning you should check the oven more often.  Also know that the tomatoes usually turn out to be a darker colour if you are using an oven.

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Dehydrator Method:

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Dehydrators are great for control of the temperature and sometimes the time.

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Cut them into 1/2” slices (as they will shrink considerably), then place them in the dehydrator at 135 degrees F for 12-24 hours.   Remember not to overcook or they can end up bitter.  

Check them regularly until the point where they are no longer pliable and then follow through to grind them up in a coffee grinder and voila!

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If you happen to be a tomato aficionado and grow or buy different varieties of heirloom tomatoes, you can also add nuanced flavor to the powder by choosing heirlooms with specific flavor profiles.

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Then there is MSG, first popularised in the US in the 1920s and '30s, when it was in so many products, including Campbell's and Heinz.  In 1968, a doctor Robert Ho Man Kwok communicated in writing to the New England Journal of Medicine Editor. He advised he ws suffering adverse reactions, such as headaches, dizziness and weakness—after eating at Oriental restaurants, blaming what he believed was MSG, knowned to be commonly used in Chinese cooking.  Such news had a wave effect across the western world reducing and even having MSG banned in foods. There is new science now announced at this Umami forum denouncing such thoughts.   I can't say I am a fan of MSG, as I am aware of persons close to me who seem to have severe reactions when they have encountered MSG.  It might take a bit more convincing for some to consider taking this ingredient up again.

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Flavour is an impression of what we’re consuming, and can be affected by taste, but also smell, sound, sight, and even mood, as well as memories.  But to be clear, umami is not a flavour, it is one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, salty, sour and bitter.

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Marmite spread and Oxo soup stock are popular Umami additions in the UK, while

tomato, parmesan cheese, anchovies and mushrooms are well used in Italy. Bouillon and Consommé is popular in French cuisine. In Mexico and Peruvian regions dried meat, is implemented into favourite meals widely across the lands.  Over in Asia, fish sauce, shrimp pastes in Malay meals and in Myanmar (Burma), as well as oyster sauce in Vietnamese, Thai and Cantonese remains ever so popular in their tasty cuisine.

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Research has revealed just how fundamental this Umami taste is.  It is believed at around week 16 of the 40 weeks of gestation of a baby growing in the womb, taste receptors develop.  This enables the infant to trial a variety of tastes from the mother’s amniotic fluid.1 The amniotic fluid is rich with free amino acids, and among them, glutamate is found in the highest concentration.2 appearing that umami is one of the first tastes we possibly experience.  This adds a new view point to take on board when considering the importance of taste.

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Kokumi - The Secret Taste

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In the 1980s, we began investigating what onions and garlic bring to so many flavorful dishes, something quite different from umami. Many have described the sensation as kokumi*. Kokumi* is a Japanese word literally meaning “rich taste”. While umami imparts savory flavor or meatiness, kokumi* is a sense of richness, body and complexity that some compare to the way wines age and improve over time. Although kokumi substances have no taste of their own, they seem to make other foods taste and feel better, enhancing not only umami but also salty and sweet flavors.   Foods like garlic led to the ground breaking study isolating of a peptide, or chain of amino acids, called glutathione.

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It turns out this potent kokumi substance is found in many foods: yeast, scallops, fish sauce, soy sauce, shrimp paste, cheese, and even beer. And the natural mechanism by which it is synthesized has been revealed in yeast. 

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When a soup or a stew has been slowly bubbling away for some time, it takes on a richer, deeper flavour. Cheese is left to mature, where the flavour provides greater depth and lasting taste.  By isolating this taste and understanding it better the benefits may be able to stimulate appetite in our elder years.  Ageing persons happen to have a reduced sense of smell and taste, limiting their food intake and leading to reduced nutrition, which in turn reduces their motivation to remain active and social.  By unravelling the mysteries of taste many advantageous can be proposed.  The future is continually inviting.

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