How umami blew up taste

Unexplainable

Vox

Life Sciences, Science, Natural Sciences

4.5 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For thousands of years, there have been four basic tastes recognized across cultures. But thanks to Kumiko Ninomiya (a.k.a. the Umami Mama), scientists finally accepted a fifth. Could there be even more? (First published in 2022.) Guests: Kumiko Ninomiya, biochemist and former director of the Umami Information Center; Gary Beauchamp, former director of the Monell Chemical Senses Center; Sarah Tracy, historian of science; Camilla Arndal Andersen, neuroscientist; Paul Breslin, professor at Rutgers University For show transcripts, go to vox.com/unxtranscripts For more, go to vox.com/unexplainable And please email us! [email protected] We read every email. Support Unexplainable by becoming a Vox Member today: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:03.3	This is unexplainable.
1:05.0	I'm Meredith Hodnott.
1:12.6	The science behind how things taste has been an organizing principle in my life. It's led me to chemistry labs and test kitchens and science podcasts,
1:17.6	but I've never met anyone as devoted to the science of a single taste as Kumiko Ninumia.
1:24.6	My nickname is Umami Mama. Many people don't know about my exact name, but they know Umami Mama.
1:33.6	Kumiko, the Umami Mama, is a biochemist and researcher.
1:37.9	I am always talking about umami, umami, umami.
1:41.8	The umami that Kumiko is always talking about has always been a part of food.
1:47.0	But it wasn't identified until 1908.
1:50.2	That year, a Japanese chemist, Kikunai Ikeda, distilled pure glutamate salt from big sheets of a seaweed called kombu, a foundational ingredient in Japanese cuisine.
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