There’s just something about it.
Plenty of foods out there are filling, and the flavors available are vast in scope. But beef provides a type of satisfaction that is hard to put into words. Thankfully our friends in Japan provided the concept behind a word that has a lot to do with it – Umami.
You may have heard it used for those otherwise “indescribable” flavors and feelings associated with certain edibles that fail to fall entirely into the four tastes we recognize from diagrams in school – a picture of the tongue with areas circled to show the prevalence of taste buds which recognize bitter, sweet, salty and sour things.
This article* gives a handy framework for what this fifth element of flavor does for our perception of more complex tastes – and how it lends itself to that special place in our hearts (and stomachs) for a great steak or burger.
*Cattlemen’s Beef Board and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
This is part of the intrigue to me. This is why I set out to explore and learn as much about beef as possible, and hope to share some of my discoveries with you here.
– Milo Truepenny