Science. Flavor. Experiments. Biochemistry. Pleasure. Anchovies.
This past week I went all out for umami. This is the "fifth" flavor beyond the old parochial quartet of sweet/sour/salty/bitter classically ascribed to the human tongue.
It generally means "yumminess." 
The chemical base for the taste sensation was divined via experimentation by a Japanese researcher a century ago. The food phenomenologist, Brillat-Savarin, found this taste, or maybe something of a feeling, in high European cuisine nearly two centuries ago, too.
In writing/eating for this blog I did my due diligence on umami. I read (or skimmed) chemical texts on the subject of amino acids (glutamates). It was almost like being back in high school AP biology.
And I did my due diligence in investigating the tasteful umami. It's a pleasurable regimen – cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, cured meats, soy sauce are among umami-bearers. Oh yeah, MSG is too but I did not shake a can.
To give the Japanese researcher Kikunae Ikeda - the man who put the name “umami” to the phenomenon - due props, I went for a bowl of ramen at the tiny, quaint and delicious Togoshi on Twain. With seaweed, soy and homemade stock, the soup was luscious while still being 
thin in viscosity – that is umami. As a bonus, the owner/chef was playing Japanese pop music reinterpreting classic early rock-pop songs like Dion’s “The Wanderer” and the Crystals “Then He Kissed Me.” With the ramen, a seaweed-wrapped rice ball stuffed with a pickled plum (umeboshi), it was a Japanglish umami-fest.
Later I headed out for The King of Salads – the Caesar. With anchovy, Parmesan and Worcestershire sauce, the Caesar is an umami powerhouse. I enjoyed my most recent one at The Bootlegger Bistro.
For Italian umami, I ordered one of the fine, authentic pizzas from Settebello in Henderson. I went for a job loaded with tomatoes and mushrooms – very umami-laden.
Finally, in this umami-o-rama, I enjoyed a delightful croque monsieur – the French ham and cheese sandwich with a Parmesan crust – at the gorgeous Payard Patisserie in Caesars Palace. With a roast tomato to the side, it was Gallic umami, oui oui.
To learn more indepth about umami, I recommend checking out Robert Krulwich’s NPR radio package on the taste sensation. This guy has a compelling job, that is for sure. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15819485
Random sighting
Witness Caviar Drive, one of the nuttier street names around. Caviar Drive ... really?
(This blog was tasted-tested along to the sounds of Soul Asylum on iPod shuffle.)