Ketchup ignites the palate as one of the few foods to stimulate all five sensations inside the mouth: salty, sweet, sour, bitter and umami, the latter of which gives body to food and is the savory taste found in cured meat and MSG.

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Then for 23 years he worked for one firm, which cured and smoked meat.

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Cured hams and fresh meat from these pigs, at first a regional specialty, became, over the centuries, Spain's most prized national delicacy.

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