> blake murphy > wrote:
>>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

Right, it's taste receptor issue, not a 5th "flavor". It's a matter
of biology, not opinion. We don't get to vote.