I was recently reading Dash Of Stash a great blog out of Chicago. The hero of the story had been invited to a brunch in his building. He’d temporarily let the date slip his mind and found himself in a time crunch and with an obligation to bring food.

His solution was a smoked salmon tartare (nice...). As he hurriedly gathered (more like hunted) and assembled his ingredients. He came across that moment. We have all been there.

He had spent a considerable amount of time, energy and from the sound of things, a pretty penny getting to this moment. As he leaned over his bowl, the city skyline and sparkling lake in view outside his kitchen window (okay, I am editorializing here somewhat). He took in the deeply savory aroma of his smoky creation and he put a spoonful into his mouth. This is the moment of “taste”.

Something was missing. Now this is no big deal. So he did not panic. This is why the phrase “season to taste” was invented. It’s that last shining moment when the cook gets to tweak his culinary baby into it’s peak performance.

He began to reach for the salt. Because surely “season to taste” means salt and possibly pepper. Right?