Sweet—Table sugar or other sweetener. Sour—Ideally, “sour salt” (citric acid),21 as it’s odorless, but lemon juice or vinegar will do the job. Bitter—Tonic water (quinine). Salty—Various types of salt: table salt, kosher salt, sea salt. Umami—Human breast milk. What’s that? You don’t have human breast milk on hand? A little MSG will work. Barring that, try dashi (or its constituent parts, kombu seaweed or bonito flakes), mushrooms, or the little white crystals on good ol’ Parmigiano-Reggiano.
