On Food and Cooking

named this sensation umami (a rough
translation is “delicious”), and pointed out
that other foods, including meats and
cheese, also provide it. For decades,
Western scientists were skeptical that
umami was a genuine taste sensation of its
own, and not just a general taste enhancer.
Finally, in 2001, biologist Charles Zuker at
the University of California, San Diego,
and colleagues demonstrated conclusively
that humans and other animals do have a
specific taste receptor for MSG.
A few years after Ikeda’s observations,
a colleague of his discovered a different
umami substance (inosine monophosphate,
or IMP) in cured skipjack tuna, another
soup-base ingredient (p. 237). Then in
1960, Akira Kuninaka reported an umami
substance in shiitake mushrooms
(guanosine monophosphate, or GMP).
Kuninaka also discovered that these
different substances were synergistic with