Umami

The fifth basic taste, identified and named by the Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda in 1908. It corresponds to the presence of glutamates and certain nucleotides — the molecules that give aged Parmigiano, ripe tomatoes, katsuobushi, shoyu, and mushrooms their savory weight.

Western cooking has always known umami; it simply did not have a word for it. The word matters, because once you have it, you start to notice that the Italian and Japanese pantries are largely the same pantry, organized differently.