What's your secret ingredient that makes your version of a common dish better than anyone else's?

Mine probably isn’t that secret these days, but almost every sauce I add nutritional yeast to. Curry, chilli, bolognese, it just makes them all better.

Acid. Lemon juice, lime juice, vinegar, and/or wine. Salt and acid make the existing flavors fucking pop.

For anything cheesy, add a touch of nutmeg. Not enough to identify it, but enough to know that something changed.

Taste as you go.

Funny story. My partner was making mince meat a little while back and instead of adding nutmeg they accidentally added cinnamon. Actually turned out really good!

Moroccans (and probably others) use cinnamon in savoury dishes like tagines and stuff, so not a terrible mistake to make!

Cinnamon is awesome on pepperoni pizza; throw it on before baking.

Agree with acid. Fuck nutmeg though, I’m tired of sauces with nutmeg. It does not give it a je ne sais quoi, it just makes it taste like fucking nutmeg.

That’s just too much nutmeg.

Correct, and that’s my problem with it: it gets abused too often, so it’s on my “this is why we can’t have nice things” list.

Nutmeg is great in creamed spinach as well

I have a different secret ingredient in my creamed spinach.

MSG. It’s amazing.

Honestly improves everything I add to any type of meat or sauce.

Put it on your popcorn too!

Why have I never thought of this? I use MSG everywhere I can and this never occurred to me - thank you!

Try Greek Seasoning on popcorn. Has MSG, and a bunch of other goodness.

Along those same lines: Chicken bullion powder with MSG.

Monosodium glutamate. Makes things taste more savory. Also causes furries to make in-jokes about family unfriendly topics.

MSG is the king of flavor!

Basically a salt that triggers pure umami flavor. It’s an easy add for dishes where you don’t want to use another umami booster like worcestershire or fish sauce.

I really need to grab a pack next time I hit the local Asian supermarket.

Couldn’t tell you. Every time I make something really good that’s worth repeating, the recipe is immediately wiped from my mind forever. It’s like some monkey’s paw curse that I can only make the thing the most delicious way once.

Also, butter.

I have the same issue with seasonings. I can never remember how much of what i used to make a perfect dish. With all the smart things being made, what we need are smart seasoning containers, just think after a long cooking you sit down to eat and can pull up an app to see you used 2 grams of this 5 grams of that. You mark the dish then next time you’re cooking you pull up the app and it reminds you on how much to use.

You could weigh the containers before and after

Im to dumb and lazy too do that. Hence why smart containers would be nice.

Never measure. Just throw. You know you’ve seasoned it enough when the spirits of your ancestors step in.

I still pine for that ham bone soup I drunk-made after Christmas that one times.

The other secret ingredient is … time

Often I’ll make something and it doesn’t quite taste that great immediately after making it … especially tomato based recipes

Then when you let it sit for a day … it tastes a whole lot better the next day.

True. A lot of sauces are the best in leftovers, but every time, I’m like, “no, this doesn’t taste right, it’s not good, mom taste it and help me,” and then she’s like, “yeah dummy, it’s been on the stove for 5 minutes, give it some time.” I’m not patient.

Tomatoes are shy and take time to work into a dish. That’s why I like to have my sauce simmering before I start the water when making pasta.

Bolognese, i’ll have that simmering for 2-3 hours before i even think about starting the spaghetti,

I get the same. I make something that everyone says is delicious and I genuinely have no idea how much of what went in. I guess it just comes with knowing the basics well enough.

either that, or it only tastes so good the first time, even if your recreate it exactly.

That’s why I’m designing a recipe app where I can keep notes etc for everything I make.

the recipe is immediately wiped from my mind forever

You guys are getting recipes? Jk.

Smell, taste, and timing are the keys to great food. Take a whiff and add what’s missing.

Methodical testing is for sharing results after you have a solid grasp of what tastes good.

A few years ago I got a big shaker of just straight MSG crystals in the “ethnic foods” aisle of the grocery store, and I put it in so much stuff. It just makes everything taste better. Particularly anything umami

In Switerland you can get it by the kilogram and in some supermarkets there is an entire aisle just for MSG.

You can get that anywhere worldwide professional cooks shop. No, it’s often not in grocery store in English speaking countries, but it’s at the wholesaler in 3 lb jars and 10 kg buckets, and (one of the reasons) food tastes better in a restaurant. The other reasons are excessive sugar, fat, cream and butter of course.

Monosodium glutamate

Uncle Roger approved

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What's your secret ingredient that makes your version of a common dish better than anyone else's?

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