umami means one of the five basic tastes, the savory taste of foods such as seaweed, cured fish, aged cheeses and meats. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 90 out of 100.
Why this word is great
UMAMI — [Noun] The fifth basic taste, a savory depth and mouth-filling sensation produced by glutamates, found richly in aged cheeses, cured meats, and seaweed. From Japanese 旨味, うまみ (umami), from 旨い (umai, "delicious"). Unlike "savory" (a general, often vague descriptor of heartiness) or "salty" (a sharp, crystalline sensation specific to sodium), umami is the quiet, profound, and often unnamable resonance of things that have undergone a slow transformation. It is the brooding depth of a beef demi-glace, the resonant savoriness of a sun-dried tomato dissolving on the tongue, and the lingering, brothy fullness left by a bite of aged Parmigiano-Reggiano—a quiet, cellular recognition of nourishment, the ghost of protein in the mouth.
noun
- One of the five basic tastes, the savory taste of foods such as seaweed, cured fish, aged cheeses and meats.“Umami is the mysterious “fifth taste”—a flavour that has never seemed to fit into the existing categories of sweet, sour, salty and bitter. South-east Asian chefs have exploited it throughout history—it's an essential part of the taste of seaweed, among other things[…]”