Umami? Ooh, yummy

FOOD:IF YOU'VE HAD your food product antennae out recently, you may have read about the new taste sensation in a tube, called Taste No 5, from London restaurateur Laura Santtini. It's being touted as "umami in a tube", umami being that fifth taste sensation which is roughly described by scientists as "deliciousness".

The umami flavour is found in such things as meat, mushrooms and Parmesan cheese, where a particularly savoury taste is imparted because of a high presence of glutamates (a common amino acid) that occur naturally in such foods.

Her product, available in UK supermarkets (but bound to make it to a posh shop near you), promises to give an instant flavour bomb to stews, risottos, sauces and gravies as it is predominantly made with Parmesan, porcini mushrooms and tomatoes. Keen not to be outdone by this new invention, I set out to make an umami-rich tasty beef stew in about 15 minutes preparation time and about two hours cooking time in the oven, without any cheats in a tube.

I used chuck steak, which is rectangular in shape and doesn’t need too much trimming. I experimented with the meat found in between short ribs, but it was a bit scraggy and I preferred the chunkiness of the chuck. For four greedy people, I used 1.2kg of chuck, which I trimmed down only a little, discarding just a small amount of gristle. Don’t trim away the fat (there wasn’t much anyway), just any very sinewy bits.

My next dilemma was deciding which accoutrements I would add to make it super-umami. I cheated by adding smoked streaky rashers, which dominated the flavour a bit, but they’re darned tasty. Next up: anchovies. Now I know many people detest them, but the small little suckers in tins worked a treat and will multiply the umami taste up to 15-fold as they’re full of inosinates, which work in conjunction with glutamates to heighten meaty flavour. I also added a good load of tomato puree, garlic, bay leaves and some wine. We had no red wine open in the house, so I used a half-bottle of white, which worked out fine. Red would be better, but to save a few quid, I used the open bottle.

The result? A tasty stew that goes really well with some boiled spuds and carrots, or, even better, with these little pots of devil-worshipping spuds (recipe below). I made them with Taleggio but also gave them a go using the Co Cork cheese Ardrahan, which is widely available in a good selection of supermarkets and delis. Taleggio is great to cook with, but so is Ardrahan. Obviously the amount of fat in these spuds is obscene, but as a real treat, make them and only eat a few bites if you can’t handle the guilt.

Cheese and thyme potato pots

(serves 6 generously)

• 1kg spuds, peeled and chopped
• 400ml cream
• 100g butter
• Few sprigs thyme
• 80g Parmesan
• 120g Ardrahan or Taleggio cheese
• Salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 220 degrees/gas seven.

Cook the spuds in boiling salted water until they are tender and then drain and mash very well.

Meanwhile, heat the cream and butter with the thyme until just about to boil. Add to the mashed spuds and mix really well with a wooden spoon. It will be very runny. Fold in half of the Parmesan and all of the other cheese. Season well and spoon into pots or a gratin dish. Top with the rest of the Parmesan and bake for 15-20 minutes until it is golden brown and bubbling.

Umami beef stew

• Few tbsp olive oil
• 1.2kg chuck steak, cut into chunks
• 2 onions, peeled and chopped
• ½ head garlic, peeled and sliced
• 6-8 smoked streaky rashers, diced
• 1 x 50g tin anchovy fillets in oil
• 2 heaped tbsp tomato puree
• 2 bay leaves
• 300ml wine
• 1.5 litres stock or water

I did this in one heavy saucepan and one frying pan simultaneously, to save on time. The stew will cook better in the oven if you have a heavy, cast iron pot such as a Le Creuset. If you have a lighter pot, you may need to cook it for longer in a gentler oven temperature, reduced by 20 degrees, cooking time upped by 45 minutes.

In a heavy based saucepan, heat up the olive oil and cook the chuck steak on a very high heat so that it really browns on all sides. This should take a good 10 minutes. Add the stock to the meat and let it deglaze the pan. If a lot of fat and some scum rises to the surface, scoop it out with a big spoon. Keep it simmering gently while you get the frying pan going.

In the frying pan, heat up another tablespoon of olive oil and fry the onions until they are just starting to colour, then add the garlic and diced rashers. Let some of the fat cook off and let the bacon start to brown. Then chuck in the anchovy fillets (including the oil), the tomato puree and bay leaves. Mix really well and mush the anchovies with your wooden spoon. Add the wine, which will deglaze the pan. Carefully transfer the hot onion mixture to the beef. Give it a good stir and season with lots of black pepper, but no salt at this stage.

Place in the oven and cook with a lid on for an hour. Taste, season, take the lid half off and cook for another hour. The stew should be good and thick, and very tasty. Season and cook for another 10-15 minutes if necessary. Serve with spuds and carrots. Needless to say, this would taste even better if reheated the next day. See also itsa.ie