The Umami Cookbook Trivia Quiz

Answer: miso

First recognized in Japan in 1885, umami - the fifth taste - is based on the presence of two main groups of organic compounds, glutamates and nucleosides. These compounds are responsible for the rich, savoury taste of broths, cooked meats, fish and seafood, cheese, and fermented foods such as miso.

A thick, salty paste of fermented soybeans that comes in different colours, miso is one of the staples of Japanese cuisine, where it is used in a wide range of dishes. The most common variety is shiromiso, or white miso, which has a more delicate umami taste than the much more assertive red miso (akamiso). Miso soup, eaten daily by millions of Japanese, and regularly found on the menus of Japanese restaurants worldwide, consists of miso paste blended with dashi stock, another umami bomb made with kombu seaweed and dried tuna flakes (katsubuoshi).

The filling noodle soup known as ramen - a Japanese adaptation of Chinese wheat noodle soups - exists in many regional versions, which use different kinds of broth as well as toppings. Miso ramen is a speciality of the northern city of Sapporo, which has cold, snowy winters. To make the soup base, miso is blended with oily chicken or fish broth; the soup gets extra doses of umami by the addition of spicy bean paste (doubanjiang), sesame seeds, eggs marinated in soy sauce, ground pork or braised pork belly (chashu), and seaweed.

Gingko is a tree with edible nuts; panko are Japanese-style breadcrumbs, and bento is a single-portion meal packed in a box with various compartments.

Answer: Vietnam

Fish sauce is to the cuisines of Southeast Asia what soy sauce is to the cuisines of China, Korea and Japan. Called nuoc mam in Vietnam, nam pla in Thailand, tik trei in Cambodia, and patis in the Philippines, it is made by fermenting anchovies layered with salt in barrels, then slowly pressing out the briny, savoury liquid produced by osmosis. The longer the fermentation period, the more delicate the flavour. Fish sauce is widely used in cooking or as an ingredient of dipping sauces served with various dishes: its intense umami taste is considered the perfect complement to the blandness of rice, the staple food in that part of the world.

Nuoc cham (meaning "dipping water") is a frequent accompaniment of Vietnamese meals. In its simplest version, it is a mixture of fish sauce, lime juice or rice vinegar, sugar and water; additional ingredients may include chopped bird's eye chilies, minced garlic, sliced lemongrass, or shredded vegetables (such as carrots or white radish). Vegetarian nuoc cham may be made by swapping fish sauce with Maggi seasoning sauce, another umami-rich product based on vegetable protein. Nuoc cham is the traditional dipping sauce for Vietnamese spring rolls (cha gio) or rice paper rolls (goi cuon), as well as rice vermicelli (bun) with various toppings (shown in the photo).

Fish sauce was also widely employed in antiquity in the Mediterranean region. The Romans put garum - a pungent condiment made from fermented fish guts and other fish scraps - in almost every dish. A modern counterpart is the Neapolitan colatura di alici (anchovy drippings), which is produced in small quantities according to a medieval recipe.

Answer: bolognese

The high umami quotient (and low sugar content) of tomatoes is what makes them culinary vegetables rather than fruits - which they are botanically. Fresh tomatoes have a distinctly higher glutamate content than most other vegetables - which skyrockets if the tomatoes are dried or made into paste.

True bolognese sauce, or ragù alla bolognese, contains a small but significant amount of tomato in the form of paste (also known as concentrate), which has a much more intense tomato flavour than other tomato preparations. Many recipes call for three kinds of ground meat - beef, veal and pork - as well as pancetta (unsmoked cured pork belly), an aromatic "soffritto" of onion, celery and carrot, wine, and milk. In Italy, bolognese sauce is never served over spaghetti: in the photo, the rich, reddish-brown sauce coats golden strands of egg tagliatelle (noodles). A healthy sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan on top of the pasta will add an extra umami dimension.

The three classic Italian sauces mentioned as wrong answers are also rich in umami, on account of the presence of tomatoes (marinara), Parmesan cheese (Alfredo), and pancetta, eggs and pecorino cheese (carbonara).

Answer: mushrooms

Also known as black mushrooms, shiitake (Lentinula edodes) are native to East Asia, but are now cultivated worldwide. Particularly when dried, their umami taste is very pronounced because they contain a combination of glutamates and guanylates that is rare in other edible mushroom species. For this reason they are widely used in East Asian Buddhist cuisines, which are mostly vegetarian. The liquid from rehydrated dried shiitake is used in Japan to make vegetarian dashi stock, replacing the customary dried tuna flakes.

Fresh shiitake are often steamed or stir-fried to make the most of their firm, meaty texture, while dried shiitake are generally added to simmered dishes, whose flavour they enhance greatly. They are among the most common ingredients of Buddha's Delight (lo han jai), a vegetarian dish that (as its name implies) originated in Buddhist monasteries, but is now found on the menus of Chinese restaurants worldwide. It is usually made with at least 10 ingredients, which include vegetables, fungi, nuts and seeds, bean thread noodles, and bean curd (tofu); while onions and garlic are generally not used, pickled tofu, ginger, soy sauce and other seasonings are added to the dish. On special occasions, such as the Chinese New Year, Buddha's Delight may include over 30 ingredients.

Answer: Carpaccio

While all aged cheeses contain glutamates, Parmesan's glutamate content is as high as that of soy sauce or some kinds of seaweed. Many of the umami seasoning mixes found in well-stocked supermarkets contain Parmesan, as even a small quantity of the iconic Italian cheese is one of the most effective means of adding that uniquely savoury taste to a dish. Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano) is aged for at least 12 months: it owes its characteristic gritty texture to the amino-acid crystals that develop within the cheese during the aging process.

Created in 1963 by Giuseppe Cipriani, the founder of Venice's famed Harry's Bar, carpaccio - named after Venetian Renaissance painter Vittore Carpaccio, whose work is characterized by intense red tones - is a dish of raw beef, sliced paper-thin. Though in its original version the dish was served with a mayonnaise-based sauce, its most popular version - served in many Italian restaurants as an appetizer or a main dish - includes a topping of shaved Parmesan and arugula leaves, and a simple dressing of oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

All the wrong answers denote foods (Garibaldi biscuits) or drinks (Frangelico hazelnut liqueur and Bellini cocktail - the latter also created by Giuseppe Cipriani) named after famous Italian people.

Answer: Welsh rarebit

Welsh rarebit is a dish consisting of slices of toasted bread covered in a hot cheese sauce. First mentioned in the 18th century, the dish was originally named "Welsh rabbit" as a joke, since it does not contain rabbit, and is very probably not from Wales; the name "rarebit" is believed to be a modern reinterpretation. In any case, the topping for the bread - which can be a a sauce of cheese (usually Cheddar), beer and mustard, or a cheese-enriched béchamel sauce - is often seasoned with Worcestershire sauce, whose intense umami taste complements the cheese and intensifies its savoury taste.

Created in the 1830s by two pharmacists from Worcester (England), John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins, Worcestershire sauce is a strongly-flavoured concoction of vinegar, anchovies, tamarind, molasses and other seasonings. Marketed worldwide under the Lea & Perrins label and by other brands, outside the UK it is often referred to as "English sauce". Vegetarian versions without anchovies are also available. Worcestershire sauce is used to add a umami kick to various dishes and condiments, and is also an ingredient of popular cocktails such as Bloody Mary and Caesar.

Another umami-rich, quintessentially British product is Marmite, a yeast extract concentrate that is often used in cooking to enhance the taste of savoury dishes, and also pairs well with cheese and butter. The Australian version (a veritable Aussie icon) is called Vegemite.

Answer: kielbasa

Pork, like other meats, is naturally rich in inosinate, one of the organic compounds responsible for umami. In dried, smoked or cured meats, the distinctive umami taste is even more concentrated, so that even a small quantity of these products (which are also rich in salt) goes a long way in adding flavour to any food. It is no wonder that these meats - while not very healthy if consumed in large quantities - are among the most popular food products in many parts of the world. While flavour enhancers such as MSG (monosodium glutamate) are often added to industrially produced sausages, those produced according to artisanal criteria rely solely on the rich tastes of meat and natural seasonings.

In Polish, kielbasa is a general word for sausage, rather than one denoting a specific product. In the US, on the other hand, it is generally synonymous with "Polish sausage", a U-shaped smoked sausage that can be made of other meats than pork. The one that resembles American-style kielbasa most is wiejska, or country sausage, which is generally made of pork and veal, and seasoned with garlic and marjoram.

Chipolata is a thin, fresh pork sausage originally from France, while soppressata is a dry salami from southern Italy, and longaniza a dry, spicy sausage from Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries.

Answer: Nice

Salade niçoise (Niçoise salad in English) is a substantial salad that originates from the city of Nice, on the French Riviera. In its earlier, 19th-century version, it was a much simpler dish of tomatoes and anchovies with olive oil. Later, other ingredients - such as peppers, black olives, tuna in oil, and hard-boiled eggs - were added, while the addition of lettuce or other salad leaves is rare. According to purists, the salad should never include cooked vegetables - which makes more recent versions with potatoes and green beans (like the one in the photo, which also includes white cannellini beans) rather controversial. Similar salads are traditional in other parts of the northwestern Mediterranean coast, such as the Italian region of Liguria.

Niçoise salad can be served either as a tossed salad or a composed salad; upscale variants tend to favour the latter presentation, with the separate ingredients artfully arranged on a plate. Such a popular dish has lent itself to a myriad variations, such as those that replace tuna packed in oil with grilled fresh tuna - which, however, is nowhere as intensely savoury. In any case, the original recipe is unbeatable in its successful combination of different umami-rich ingredients. The salad is also used as filling for a traditional Provençal sandwich known as pan bagnat ("wet bread").

Answer: West Africa

Located on the northeastern coast of Brazil, Salvador is the capital of the state of Bahia. Its cuisine, like all other aspects of its culture, is strongly influenced by West Africa, from where millions of black slaves were forcibly transported to Brazil between the mid-16th and the mid-19th centuries. Staple ingredients of Bahian cuisine are red palm oil (dendê), coconut milk, peanuts, and dried shrimp - all of them also found in the cuisines of West African countries such as Nigeria and Ghana. Some of these traditional dishes also have connections with syncretic Afro-Brazilian religions such as Candomblé, and are prepared as ritual offers to the deities.

Though often described as a stew, vatapá (whose name comes from Yoruba) is a creamy paste made by mixing bread, ground peanuts and ground dried shrimp with coconut milk and palm oil. Recipes may include salt cod, fresh shrimp or other seafood, chilies, tomatoes and other seasonings: a similar preparation, caruru, contains okra. Both these dishes are often eaten together with the traditional Afro-Brazilian street food known as acarajé - deep-fried croquettes made with mashed black-eyed peas.

Dried shrimp and shrimp paste are umami-rich staples of the cuisines of large parts of Asia, from India to Japan, as well as West Africa and Mexico.

Answer: it is powdered

Though it may seem odd to see the photo of a rather luscious-looking cake in a quiz dedicated to all things savoury, in East Asia - particularly in Japan - green tea is often found as an ingredient of desserts and baked goods. Its distinctive taste - quite different from that of black tea - has a subtle but clearly detectable savoury quality that may bring seaweed to mind. The high umami content of premium green tea, grown in the shade in the weeks before harvest, comes from the amino-acid theanine.

Traditionally used in the Japanese tea ceremony, matcha is a bright green, finely ground powder that is whisked into hot water. While culinary-grade matcha is the cheapest variety, it is still more expensive than other kinds of green tea. The powder imparts a lovely shade of green to the foods to which it is added. Though more typically used to flavour desserts (including ice cream) and confectionery, matcha is also used in savoury dishes - such as the buckwheat noodles known as cha soba. It is also mixed with salt to create a condiment called matcha jio, often sprinkled over fried foods (such as tempura) to offset their oiliness.

In Western cafés, matcha often appears as an ingredient of hot or cold drinks - in which, however, the delicate umami taste of the tea is swamped by the large amount of sugar generally added to these concoctions.