Surely, all of you have eaten some food that was absolutely delicious and you wanted to know what made it so special. You looked up the recipe, tried it at home using the same ingredients and respecting the entire process, but it did not taste the same as the first time. It felt like something was missing, right? Well, it was something that people call the ‘fifth taste’. It is found in several foods and condiments and spices and it created a kind of addiction. People want to taste it and feel that pleasure in everything, but they shouldn’t. And there is a good reason for this.
What is the ‘fifth taste’?
The ‘fifth taste’ is given by monosodium glutamate (MSG), an additive, derived from the amino acid, glutamate. And now comes the question: why are not people buying it like they do for salt or pepper? Because this additive is, in fact, an artificial taste that gives the impression that people are eating something brought from Heaven. It replaces the natural flavors given by vegetables and meat, transforming eating in an addiction. The more you eat and you feel that ‘delicious’ taste, the more you want. Do you know why you find so much orange in fast foods? This color stimulates people to eat more and more, even though they are not hungry anymore. MSG has the same effect.
MSG is found in fast food restaurant, chips, sweets, spice mixtures (for different foods), basically in everything that contains additives. Besides the uncontrollable need to eat, it also makes people forget how real food tastes like. The best and healthiest flavors come from the ingredients we use in what we cook: onion, garlic, tomatoes, chilli, olive oil, carrots etc. They depend on what food we are preparing.
Respecting the recipe and using natural ingredients creates the best meals. They do not need ‘improvements’, especially when we are talking about additives. They transform food in something almost perfect, but it looks more like the apple from the forbidden tree from the Garden of Heaven. It was the best thing from there, but the one that caused Adam and Eva problems. It is the same in this case. It tastes great, but it makes you forget the real taste.