Umami holds an interesting place in the history of taste as until its recognition in 1985 by the global scientific community it was widely accepted that there existed four conventional basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour and bitter. In 1908 scientist Kikunae Ikeda recognised a peculiar reoccurring un-categorisable taste in ‘tomatoes, cheese, asparagus and meats’ and then later, when returning to Japan noticed the same taste in kombu dashi, or foods flavoured with kelp and seaweed.