I taste my food throughout the cooking process, as I build seasoning over time.
Once it touches my tongue, I know whether the dish needs salt, acid, or balance before it’s too late to adjust. Once it’s already reduced, thickened, or finished cooking, it’s harder to make adjustments.
For example, if I realize a soup or pasta sauce lacks seasoning once it’s done, adding more salt might help, but the flavor might taste flat since the seasoning didn’t fully cook in the dish.
I usually taste my dishes at every step that alters the flavor — after seasoning, reducing, adding acid, or combining the ingredients — to maintain control over the final result.
