A pinch of umami . . .

Just as I was thinking about posting on the subject of umami (following last night's delicious umami-rich supper of roast haddock and mushrooms) an animated discussion has broken out on Twitter on the virtues - or otherwise - of adding Marmite to a spaghetti sauce.

It was prompted by Nigella's discovery, revealed in Observer Food Monthly today, that adding Marmite to a classic al burro sauce makes for a particularly tasty, child-friendly meal, a tip she got from her mentor, Italian food writer Anna del Conte.

Marmite, of course, is rich in umami - the so-called 'fifth taste' (the others being sweet, sour, salty and bitter) It's a kind of intense savouriness you find in ingredients such as aged parmesan, roast chicken skin, slow roast tomatoes, porcini, fish sauce and dried seaweed like kombu and makes every dish that contains it taste lip-smackingly appetising.

The great thing about it is that it's not expensive. You only need a little to create the effect which makes it a great asset to the frugal cook's larder. Last night I cooked the simplest of dishes in my Remoska cooker (my new obsession) that involved sweating off a small onion, adding 250g of sliced chestnut mushrooms, cooking them for about 15 minutes then topping them with a couple of haddock fillets and cooking a further 6-7 minutes until the fish was cooked. The magic ingredient was a large pinch of the umami-rich poudre de ceps, I mentioned a couple of months back, which intensified the umami flavour of the mushrooms.

If you're going to France this summer look out for it in those sections of service stations that stock local food products (I think I bought mine in the Auvergne) or, if you can't wait that long buy a tin of the bizarrely named Shake O'Cini which has a similar effect. Failing that, add a little Marmite to your mushrooms - along with a good knob of butter. It might sound as weird with fish as it does with spaghetti but I bet it will work.

Do you consciously add umami to your cooking and if so, in what way? (I expect a full answer on this from Sig of Scandilicious, one of the three student collaborators on our forthcoming Ultimate Student Cookbook, who has studied the subject in depth ;-)

Marmite and cucumber sandwiches

Those of you who have been following the fevered debate on the virtues (or otherwise) of Marmite may require proof that I have been as good as my word and knocked up a Marmite and cucumber sandwich. So here it is!

I realised there were many possible permutations. White or brown bread (I chose white), butter or no butter, how much Marmite (a light smear), how thickly the cucumber should be sliced (thinly, IMO) and whether it should or shouldn't be peeled (it should, I think).

And the verdict? Very nice. Not quite as nice as cucumber sandwiches on their own but much better than I would have imagined. I unreservedly take back my critical comments about the combination. But I still reckon £31.50 is a silly amount to charge for afternoon tea, Marmite sandwiches or not ;-)

Marmite afternoon tea

The prize for silliest idea of the year so far (admittedly we're only 7 days into 2009) has to go to the food and beverage department of the Dorchester which has dreamed up a Marmite afternoon tea. The Marmite component apparently consists of Marmite and cucumber sandwiches which sounds pretty yukky to me. And that seems to be it. Price £31.50 per person. Minus service, I presume.

I suppose if you're rich enough to go to the Dorchester for tea £31.50 is peanuts but it seems shockingly bad value to me, even by London standards.

Here's a suggestion. Go off to your local supermarket or corner shop and buy a packet of crumpets. Toast them really, really well (there's nothing worse than a soggy crumpet), slather them with butter and spread with a thin smear of Marmite. Cost per head (assuming you have butter and Marmite and eat two crumpets) about 31.5p - 100th of the price of the Dorchester tea.

BTW you know this big thing about Marmite lovers and loathers - the idea that everyone falls into one of two camps. I really don't buy it. I actually quite like Marmite - especially on crumpets - and Ryvita crispbread, now I come to think of it - but I never crave it. On the other hand I don't like Vegemite or other Marmite substitutes which is annoying as it really seems to have gone up in price, particularly with these new squeezy bottles. What about you? And have you ever found a good low cost alternative?