Umami Burger

Umami (ooh-MA-mee): is one of the five basic tastes together with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. It comes from the Japanese term umai ‘delicious’ and mi 'taste', that represents the taste imparted by the amino acid L-glutamate and 5’-ribonucleotides such as guanosine monophosphate (GMP) and inosine monophosphate (IMP). It describes a pleasant "brothy" or "meaty" taste with a long lasting, mouthwatering and coating sensation over the tongue. This is due to the detection of the carboxylate anion of glutamic acid in specialized receptor cells present on the human and animal tongue. Its fundamental effect is the ability to balance and round the total flavor of a dish.

Brian here... we've spent this past weekend celebrating my birthday meaning that I got to choose where we went to lunch yesterday. I had been hearing that Umami Burger was the best (not the healthiest... they cook the meat in bacon grease... mmmm) burger you would ever eat so we decided to give it a try.

Manly Burger: beer cheddar-cheese, smoked salt onion strings, covered with bacon lardons

Hatch Burger: roasted green chilies, house made american cheese

Mexican Coke: Coca-Cola made and bottled in Mexico (obviously). Mexican Coke fans say the flavor is "a lot more natural tasting". The natural taste can be partially attributed to the fact that Mexican Coke is sweetened with refined cane sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup found in nearly all soft-drinks bottled in the U.S. Mexican Coke is also bottled in a thick glass bottle, giving it a high quality appearance.

Bypass surgery here we come... maybe the Mexican Coke will eat away the bacon lardons!