ooooh mami!

Umami /uːˈmɑːmi/, popularly referred to as savouriness, is one of the five basic tastes together with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. Umami is a loanword from the Japanese umami (うま味) meaning "pleasant savory taste".

<sup>So says Wiki....
Alot of people are unaware of the 'fifth taste', but it's one that can make all the difference when it comes to understanding and enjoying foods. It's hard to put your finger on what makes it so moreish, but it's that sharp tang of parmesan cheese, salty canned anchovies, Parma ham and also believe it or not, wine and beer. Umami foods have a strong taste which means they need to be paired with certain plainer flavours to really get the most from them - simple and delicious examples are cheese and tomato (mozzarella cheese on a tangy tomatoey pizza base) or piquant olives with pistachio nuts. Mmmmmmmm.

It depends on your personal preference of course, but umami rich foods generally taste 'tastier' - and Marmite is (of course) a personal favourite of mine. Coupled with cool smooth cream cheese or a runny egg yolk really brings out the salty uniqueness of the spread I love to love. And one of my favourite party food umami nibbles to get the tastebuds going are delicious Marmite and cheese swirls. Puff pastry whirls wrapped up with grated cheddar melting softly into Marmite. Pretty calorific but damn they taste good and ready in 20 minutes. You can mix and match fillings for these easily depending on what you like - try cheese and tomato puree, with some finely sliced and sauteed mushrooms or onion added. Fresh herbs, cream cheese and smoked salmon would also make a good amuse bouche, as would goats cheese with walnuts and sundried tomatoes. So simple to make, they're speedy but look pretty, and taste good hot or cold. You could even make sweet ones, with apple, cinnamon and currents or lemony zest with tinned mandarin segments and a dusting of icing sugar on top.

One ready rolled standard supermarket packet of puff pastry will make about 12 swirls, so buy 2 rolls if you need to cater for a group.
Simply open out the pastry onto a flat surface, and spread over 3 tsps of Marmite with a knife, leaving a 1cm gap around the edge. Sprinkle cheddar cheese and any other ingredients on top. Whisk 1 egg and use a pastry brush to glaze the 1cm border.</sup>

Slowly roll up the pastry width ways using the backing paper to help you. The tighter the roll the better the whirly effect! Once all rolled up, glaze the top with the beaten egg and slice into rounds half an inch thick. Arrange these on a baking sheet and squidge them slightly so they are more round in shape. Glaze once again.

Pop in a hot oven for 10 - 15 mins until golden brown on top.
At this point you can take them out of the oven and put a few strands of cheese on top for decoration, place back in the hot oven quickly just to melt them. Delicious fresh from the oven while the cheese is still oozy, but keep just as well in the fridge for a few days and you can reheat under a grill or for 30 secs in the microwave (any longer and you'll have soggy swirls on your hands). Uma-me!

umami goodness