Seasoning and flavoring

Last night we concentrated on the difference between seasoning and flavoring.  Seasoning is an addition to the dish that brings out the natural flavors of the dish.  Salt is perhaps the most common seasoning.  Seasonings should generally be added to dishes late in preparation, especially salt, which if added early into a dish that reduces down could damage the taste of a dish.

Interesting point here: when a chef says a dish could use more salt, what that actually means is that the flavors of the dish's components still have room to pop.  It doesn't mean the dish isn't salty.  Its not saying, make it taste like a potato chip.  Its saying, I know what a consomme should taste like, and this is close but not quite there, and if you added a wee bit more salt all the component flavors could pop a bit more.

Flavorings on the other hand, create complements and/or contrasts alongside the flavors of the dish's components.  Flavors should be added early to the dish, to give the tastes time to develop and harmonize into it's own profile.

With both seasonings and flavorings, tasting your dish as it develops is key.  With flavorings though, its generally better to taste early on.  If I'm adding flavor to rice, I'm going to flavor the water before adding the rice, and I'll taste the water to make sure it's what I'm after.  If I'm adding black pepper to my flour dredging mix, I'll taste my flour to make sure it's right.

Seasonings is more of a taste when the dish is just about done thing.  Taste before the dish goes out, add a bit more salt if needed.

We also discussed white pepper; most people find white pepper to be too bold, too abrasive and spicy.  According to Chef Porter that's because nobody knows how to goddamn cook with white pepper.  "Just a dash...just a dash...it's not spicy because white pepper tastes bad.  No.  No.  Don't blame the pepper.  Don't use that black ashy powder that most people call pepper just because you don't understand white pepper.  If white pepper is overpowering, you're not tasting bad pepper, you're tasting an ignorant cook."