"Have you ever made a recipe and thought, Why the hell does this taste so bland? You might be tempted to victim-blame and assume it's your fault. But hold up-maybe the person responsible for that dull, lifeless, weak-in-flavor "one pot" dish is actually ... the recipe developer. After all, aren't most recipes written for the masses? Aren't they, at their core, a sort of one-size-fits-all culinary script that can't conceivably account for all the wild variations in human taste?"
"I find nearly all savory recipes lacking in flavor when I follow the seasoning instructions per the recipe. I assume the recipes are written to create a basic dish, which can be adapted to the taste of the individual cook. Why can't specific details be written into the recipe ( double seasoning amounts to increase flavor, triple the oregano, add twice the salt, etc.)?"
Many savory recipes provide conservative seasoning intended as a baseline for broad audiences, resulting in bland or underflavored dishes when followed exactly. Some cooks add salt, umami, and bright acids to compensate, often at the end, risking over-salting. A suggested fix is to include explicit adjustment guidance in recipes, such as doubling seasoning amounts or tripling herbs. Cooks with aggressive palates often prefer intuitive cooking and seasoning to taste rather than rigidly following instructions. Stronger proportions of salt, vinegar, citrus, and umami intensifiers produce more exciting, satisfying savory results. Recipes could include explicit ranges to help cooks customize flavor intensity.
Read at Slate Magazine
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