How to Season to Taste
Often times in recipes it will say to “Season to Taste”. This final step in a lot of recipes does not just mean sprinkling some salt in. Really, this is a catch-all to allow you, the cook, to make it meet your liking! Seasoning to taste could mean salt, pepper, garlic, hot pepper flakes, cinnamon, or really any other flavor that makes this disk what you want!
My general rule of thumb for seasoning to taste is:
- Add salt until it meets you and your families preferences. Of course, you don’t want to over salt if someone else in your family prefers less salty dishes.
- Add spices (pepper, fresh herbs) until the spices are in balance with the rest of the flavors. I don’t typically add extra dried herbs or spices that are not originally in the dish, but sometimes extras of the spices in the dish help!
- Add acid (hot sauce, lemon juice, or vinegar) if it tastes one-dimensional. Hot sauce works really well, because the acid from the vinegar and the heat from the peppers both act to boost the flavor, but you have to be careful not to overdue the spice. If the dish isn’t supposed to be “hot”, try adding vinegar or lemon juice.
Hopefully, these strategies help you as cook your next dish. “Season to Taste” is something that gives you the ability to make the dish exactly as you and your family need. For example, try making some French Onion Soup and make the seasoning fit your style!
