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Culinary Arts & Cooking vocabulary · Recipes, Measurements & Costing

To taste

Meaning in culinary arts & cooking, with examples

phraseCore term

In culinary arts & cooking, to taste means: In the amount that gives the flavour you want, decided by tasting rather than by an exact measure. Used mostly with salt, pepper, sugar and acid.

In Turkish: damak zevkine göre, tadına göre

How it is used

A fixed phrase at the end of recipe instructions: season to taste, add lemon juice to taste. In a professional kitchen it means the cook must taste and adjust, not skip the step.

Example sentences

  1. Season to taste with salt and white pepper.

  2. Add the chilli to taste, but remember not everyone likes it hot.

Common collocations

  • season to taste
  • add to taste
  • salt to taste
  • sweeten to taste
  • seasonTo add salt, pepper or other flavourings to food to improve its taste. Well seasoned means the salt and flavour are at the right level.
  • recipeA set of instructions for making a dish, with a list of ingredients, their quantities and the steps, times and temperatures needed.
  • tablespoonA large spoon, and a standard measure in recipes equal to three teaspoons, which is 15 ml in the UK and US.
  • teaspoonA small spoon, and a standard measure in recipes equal to about 5 ml, or one third of a tablespoon.

More terms: Recipes, Measurements & Costing

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