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

ClockworkOtter@lemmy.world to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 244 points –

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.

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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.

I had to learn to not go overboard with nutmeg, because it's a very strong flavor that quickly overpowers a dish and when it does, it doesn't taste nice. But in the correct quantity on the right dish, it's brilliant.