Half of catmandoo's post made me hungry as I approach the lunch hour.
The other half, not so much.
Odd because I know how good a cook he is....
Most of us raised in North America have only been taught about four basic food tastes: sweet, sour, bitter and salty -- or combinations of those four. But, there is a fifth that has been recognized since Ancient Rome. It was not really defined until the early 1900s, when a Japanese professor finally described it. It is what makes many of my recipes delicious. The only term I know for it, is the Japanese word "unami." But, nearly every society knows it by taste -- they just may not have a name for it.
This is what Sunil is referring to in the last part of my post. I just need better words for describing my dishes. I know that terms like "jellied pig's knuckle" or "fish head soup" are not real appetizing. As a kid, these were delicious late winter or early springtime meals as the pantry and root cellar started to empty out.
According to the link below, this is how it is best described:
It can be described as a pleasant "brothy" or "meaty" taste with a long lasting, mouthwatering and coating sensation over the tongue
Link to
Unami.
P.S. Just to make sure we link this to ponds -- let's not forget fermented fish sauces which are rich in unami. There are many. One of the best known is Lea and Perrin's fermented anchovy sauce -- better known as Worcestershire Sauce.
