For centuries, only four basic tastes were recognized: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. In 1908, Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda identified a fifth taste while eating a bowl of dashi (seaweed soup). He noticed a savory quality that didn't fit the other four categories. He isolated the source as glutamic acid, an amino acid found in kelp. He named the taste 'Umami,' from the Japanese word for 'delicious' (*umai*). This discovery led to the invention of MSG (monosodium glutamate) as a commercial seasoning. It wasn't until 2000 that Western science officially recognized Umami after researchers discovered specific taste receptors on the human tongue (T1R1 and T1R3) that are uniquely sensitive to glutamates.