Seasoning to Taste

Nearly every recipe ends with "season to taste", and it is the step that most often separates good cooking from flat cooking. It means tasting, adjusting and tasting again.

Salt

Salt early as well as late. Salting meat ahead, potatoes in their water and pasta water as salty as a mild broth seasons food all the way through in a way a sprinkle at the end cannot.

If a dish tastes dull, it nearly always wants salt. Add a pinch, stir, and taste again before adding more.

Salts differ in strength by the spoonful, not by the gram: a teaspoon of fine table salt is about twice as salty as a teaspoon of flaky sea salt. Season by taste, not by the spoon.

Acid

If a dish tastes heavy or muddy even with enough salt, it wants acid: a squeeze of lemon, a splash of vinegar, a spoonful of yoghurt. Acid brightens a stew, a soup or a rich sauce in a way nothing else does.

Sweetness, fat and heat

Too sharp or too salty: a little sugar, honey or more fat (butter, cream, olive oil) softens it. Too sweet: acid or salt. Too hot with chilli: dairy or something starchy to serve alongside.

A dish that is too salty can sometimes be saved by adding more of everything else, or by serving it with something unsalted: plain rice, bread, potatoes.

How to taste

Taste with a clean spoon each time, and let hot food cool on the spoon for a moment: heat dulls the tongue.

Taste the dish as it will be eaten: a sauce on its own tastes stronger than the same sauce on pasta.

Anything that will reduce, such as a stock or a braise, should be seasoned lightly at first and corrected at the end.