Wikipedia notwithstanding, they're not really synonyms. Savory is a broader term that is essentially intended to contrast with sweet. If I make an unsweetened herb bread with sage and thyme or whatever, it would be correct to call that a savory bread even though it's definitely not umami (i.e. meaty/brothy).
Fair enough. It's almost certainly more correct to list umami as one of the basic tastes, rather than savory. (I was more commenting on Wikipedia suggesting they're the same thing when they're really not.)
> It's almost certainly more correct to list umami as one of the basic tastes, rather than savory.
I really don't think so: 'savory' is an actual English word while 'umami' is a Japanese one. Writing 'umami' like writing 'arugula' instead of 'rocket' or 'cilantro' instead of 'coriander.'
And 'umami' isn't really any more accurate than 'savory': it's a 100-year-old neologism from the Japanese word for 'delicious.' Given a choice between two words which aren't necessarily perfect fits for the concept, why not stick with the native one?
Exactly. Essentially English co-opted umami as a stand-in for glutamate-y which, we can probably agree is an aesthetic improvement. It's at least arguably a subset of savory but as I commented earlier there are clearly meanings of savory in cooking/baking that have no relationship to umami as the term is used in English.
