decades ago,the Japanese proposed that umami was a basic taste.western scientists resisted that idea, and said that the proof would be to find a particular receptor on our taste buds specific to MSG.well,exactly that happened about ten years ago. the taste of MSG is a basic taste, and what that means for cooks is that when you're cooking and you're trying to develop a dish that is fully flavored, you can't overlook umami. you can't overlook MSG and its fellow umami molecules.