Umami

The fifth, most recently defined taste is umami, which is loosely the "savoury" taste. Humans taste sweet, salty, bitter and sour flavours. Umami, which is dominant in parmesan cheese, cooked tomatoes, miso and seaweed, means "delicious" in Japanese (Krulwich, 2007). It is certainly a valid flavour profile, and has been recognised since 2002. Chemically, umami exists as L-glutamate, which can be found in its purest form as MSG or monosodium glutamate. 

Following this awareness of umami, it seemed appropriate to add seaweed to some mushroom stock to make a Pie from tempeh, butternut squash and mushrooms. Tempeh is an Indonesian fermented soybean cake, which is much tastier than it sounds. It is made by inoculating cooked soybeans with a spore from the mycoprotein Rhizopus Oligosporus, similar to the spore used to grow the popular meat substitute Quorn. The tempeh added to the deep mushroom element of the dish, while the butternut squash provided a sweet counterpoint. The soy sauce and seaweed-based stock combined to create an umami-rich flavour base. 

Tempeh, mushroom and butternut pie

2 portobello or field mushrooms, chopped (reserve the stems to make stock)

1 punnet of chestnut mushroom, sliced

1 onion, chopped finely

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 knob of butter, approximately 25 grams

1 piece of fresh seaweed, rinse (or dried rehydrated seaweed)

1 pound cake of tempeh, cubed

Soy sauce

Red wine

Thyme and rosemary, removed from stems and chopped

1 Block Puff Pastry

Combine the mushroom stems, seaweed and about 400mL water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. 

Sweat onion and garlic in butter until they begin to colour. Add mushrooms and cook for two more minutes. Add tempeh and cook for about four minutes. Deglaze the pan with soy sauce and red wine, a healthy splash of each. Add half the stock and turn down the heat. Add thyme and rosemary. Continue to simmer and add stock as needed, until the sauce is fairly thick and the mushrooms are soft. The tempeh will break apart but that is normal. Taste and check seasoning. 

Pour tempeh mixture into an oven-proof casserole. Roll the puff pastry out and cut to size. The top can be decorated with slashes and leaves, and if desired, can be glazed with an egg yolk before baking. Bake for about 40 minutes at 190 C.