"Season to taste"

sho.spaeth

In our most recent This Week At ChefSteps newsletter, the kitchen crew discussed the phrase "season to taste" and how they like to think about what it means, both in recipe writing and in their own cooking.

Do you have thoughts for how we use the phrase at ChefSteps? How other recipe publications use it? Do you think it's just limited to salt? What about acid and other flavor enhancers, like a sneaky little bit of MSG?

montebello1964

Historically, ChefSteps seemed to take the attitude that recipes were guides and you were not going to handhold for people. We learn by doing (and if necessary failing). I have a feeling you've moved away from that attitude in recent years, but I still think it is a good one.

Amusingly, a lot of us have always felt that many recipes on CS used too much salt, so I almost always cut the recommended amount in half and then "season to taste." (Although sometimes the excess salt actually works, like the lovely pot de creme with maple syrup and black sea salt recipe!) That may or may not still be true, but since I always season to taste now, I guess I'll never know lol.