Asians have used it for centuries. Scientists have debated it for decades. And now in-the-know American chefs are cooking with it like crazy. It's umami, the fifth taste, and it's the key that unlocks the secret to the most delicious food you can cook at home. What is umami? It's another basic taste, like sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. But it's not an ordinary taste. Umami is that rich, savory, extra-satisfying taste of mushrooms, steak, cheese, oysters, and red wine- just a few of the many foods loaded with umami. Umami is a quick and easy way to boost flavor dramatically by waking up taste buds you never knew you had. And that's why umami is about to conquer the food world. Last year reports on umami appeared in the New York Times, Saveur, Wine Spectator, Food and Wine, The New Yorker, and numerous other publications. The Fifth Taste is the first book that shows how simple it is to select and combine umami-rich ingredients for more delicious, satisfying meals, bursting with fresh, clean, natural flavors. It features more than fifty umami-rich recipes from twenty-five top American chefs and food experts, including Daniel Boulud, Christopher Kimball, Nobu Matsuhisa, Steven Raichlen, and Ming Tsai.

"Japanese chefs speak of a mysterious 'fifth taste,' one which is beyond and complementary to the known four (sweet, sour, salty and bitter). A few examples are the savory, pungent, meaty quality found in foods such as soy sauce, Parmesan cheese, red wine, mushrooms, truffles and oysters. In this book, a married couple (he's a chef; she's an author) explain and explore umami for Western audiences. They begin with an authoritative (if dry) scientific breakdown of umami-causing amino acids and nucleotides, and a lesson on how they react with certain taste buds in our mouths. This is followed by recipes for the authors' own 'everyday' dishes using umami-full ingredients (helpfully printed in boldface). Their Asparagus Frittata, 'Ragumami' Tomato and Two Meat Sauce and the like are fine, but the real meat of the book comes in the more than 60 delectable, umami-loaded recipes from top American chefs. Mouths will water over Rick Bayless's Spicy Chipotle Pork Tacos with Sun-Dried Tomato Salsa, Nobu Matsuhisa's Cilantro Soup with Monkfish, and Jody Adams's Braised Duck Legs with Mushrooms and Caper-Vinegar Sauce. Comprehensive recipes and pictures of scrumptious-looking food add to the book's appeal." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

The Fifth Taste: Cooking with Umami

See how easy it is to make the most appetizing, delicious and satisfying food ever by including ingredients with umami, the fifth taste.

What is umami? It's another basic taste, like sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. But it's not an ordinary taste. Umami is that rich, savory, extra-satisfying taste of mushrooms, steak, cheese, oysters, and red wine — just a few of the many foods loaded with umami. Umami is a quick and easy way to boost flavor dramatically by waking up taste buds you never knew you had.

Science only recently proved its existence, and the world of food and cooking is catching on fast. In the last year, reports on umami appeared in the New York Times, Saveur, Wine Spectator, Food and Wine, The New Yorker, and numerous other publications. And every day more chefs and home cooks are wowing guests, family and friends with fabulous-tasting umami-rich food.

"The Fifth Taste: Cooking with Umami" is the first book ever to tell what umami really is, which foods have it (and which don't), and how to use umami every day for some of the best meals you've ever had.

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With more than 50 umami-rich recipes from 25 top American chefs.

Advance Praise for "The Fifth Taste: Cooking with Umami

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"Anna and David Kasabian have not only written a scientific tell-all book about this mysterious ingredient, but they have also included amazing recipes - revealing a new genre in cooking and exciting new tastes for the palate."

Mario Batali, chef and author

"Great cooks throughout the centuries have spontaneously understood the essential quality of individual ingredients and have instinctively combined these to createsuperlative concoctions. In this fascinating book, the Kasabians argue convincingly that this intuitive knowledge of cooks has a name: Umami."

Jacques Pepin, chef, author and educator

"Finally a cookbook I've been waiting for-one that explains the elusive qualities of umami. Anna and David Kasabian are trailblazers. Not only do they explain and describe this mysterious element of flavor, they show us how to use its power in our cooking. An important and original book."

Michael Ruhlman, author, "The Making of Chef," "The Soul of a Chef" and "Charcuterie"

"I found the book to be an excellent synthesis of what umami IS with its practical use in cooking. I believe it will be a milestone in the deliberate incorporation of umami into western gastronomy."

Dr. Robert L. Wolke, author, "What Einstein Told His Cook "and "What Einstein Told His Cook 2, The Sequel

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"As exciting and intriguing a read as you'll find in any cookbook published this year. Then there are the recipes. If umami is a good taste — and it is — what better than a cookbook to showcase it?

Mark Bittman, author, "How to Cook Everything "(From the Foreword)

Over 50 delectable umami recipes, for every occasion and for every level of cooking skill, such as:

-Spicy Chipotle Pork Tacos with Sun-Dried Tomato Salsa from Rick Bayless

-Sea Scallops with Mashed Potatoes and Red Onion Confit from Daniel Boulud

-Cornish Game Hens Braised in a Pot with Summer Vegetables from Bradley Ogden

-My Father's Famous Shrimp Hors d'Oeuvres from Lydia Shire

-Lamb Shanks with Tomatoes from Christopher Kimball

-Spicy Sour Botan Shrimp from Nobu Matsuhisa

Plus more everyday umami recipes, including

-Maxed-Out Meatloaf

-Ragumami Tomato Two Meat Pasta Sauce

-Asparagus Frittata

-Coq au Vin Nouveau

-Please-Pass-the-Umami Toasts

-Vegetarian Muffaletta Roll-Ups

-And more