Heston Blumenthal

The Fat Duck

Umami is a subject close to my heart. For me, the taste is like a big, meaty mouthful. Umami actually exists naturally in many foods familiar to Westerners, like Marmite, Parmesan, ketchup and anchovies. When you choose a classic Western combination like Parmesan and tomato, in part what you’re choosing, is the taste of umami, although you might not realise it. Despite this, umami is still something that, in the West, we’ve never really heard of. In the Far East, and particularly Japan, where it was discovered almost a hundred years ago, it is, so to speak, as common as salt.