On Measuring Ingredients

It is always best for the novice cook to measure ingredients exactly until the “feel” of cooking is obtained. An experienced cook knows, however, that measurements down to the last grain of salt are not always necessary. That is to say, if a recipe for soup calls for a quart of broth, ½ cup of the broth more or less will probably not be critical; neither would a single rib of celery, ¼ cup of chopped onion, nor a whole or ½ clove of garlic.

Ingredients can and should be varied by an imaginative cook. When a recipe says “season to taste” or “salt to taste,” it means precisely that. It leaves the seasoning to the palate of the cook.