Umami. No, it's not a
Jawa battle cry. It's the semi-official name of the new taste identified about a year ago.
So now there's sweet, salt, sour, bitter, and umami. Apparently, it means "yummy" in Japanese, but is often translated as "savory" in English. Certainly most of us know what salty means, or sour, as a taste. But what the heck is "savory"???
Scientifically, it's when L-glutamate receptors on the tongue are triggered. But what flavor is it?
According to
this article, meat, cheese, asparagus, tomatoes all have a savory taste. But meat is also sweet, asparagus can be sweet or bitter, and tomatoes have some sweet and sour. Where does the savory come in?
