What is Umami, the fifth flavour enhancer taste?

Japanese chemist Ikeda extracted monosodium glutamate crystals from common seaweed and named the flavour enhancer ‘umami’ – a made-up word taken from the Japanese word for ‘delicious’. — 123rf.com

You might think umami is exclusive to Asian cuisine, and not something you’d find in a pea soup or Bolognese. But a little more knowledge about the elusive fifth taste can be used to experiment in all kinds of cooking.

We all have specific ideas about sweet, sour, salty and bitter in our food. But what about umami? This fifth basic taste is perhaps less easy to perceive.