PSA: A line cook in Portland told me 'you can't taste passion, you can only taste salt' and I think about it every time I see a menu description.

He said it after I sent back a dish for being bland, and now I ask my team to taste for seasoning before they even think about plating.

2 comments

2 Comments

fisher.diana10d ago

Nah, passion is just a word on a menu. That line cook was right. You taste technique and balance, not feelings. A perfect sear is just good timing and a hot pan, not love. Even a from-scratch sauce can be flat if the salt isn't right. The care shows up in the details, sure, but your mouth only knows if it's seasoned well.

the_anthony10d ago

Man I have to disagree hard on that one. You absolutely can taste passion, it comes through in the care put into every part of the dish. Seasoning is just one tool, it's the baseline. A cook going the extra mile with a great sear, perfect cook on the veg, or a balanced sauce you made from scratch, that's what passion tastes like. If all you taste is salt, the passion probably wasn't there to begin with.