Pages tagged Umami
Taste & Science
What Heat Does to an Oyster
Steaming shrinks an oyster to about half its weight and trims its umami. Baking with olive oil protects its omega-3. The chemistry of the cooked oyster.
Taste & Science
Reading the Number on the Water
A farm's salinity figure tells you more than how briny an oyster will be. Savory taste peaked near 28–29 in controlled studies, below full seawater. How to read the number.
Taste & Science
The Sugar Behind the Creaminess
The R-month rule is folklore, and glycogen is the chemistry underneath it. How an oyster's stored carbohydrate rises and falls across the year, and what that does to body and sweetness.
Taste & Science
Why Champagne and Oysters Work
Glutamate from lees-aged Champagne meets the nucleotides in an oyster at the tongue's umami receptor, and each makes the other taste stronger. Which bottles and oysters push it furthest.