Why I Always Keep To Taste Beside the Stove
The simple trick that makes every Tasty Tin blend taste more like itself.
If you've ever wondered why I created To Taste, or why I always keep it within arm's reach when I'm cooking, here's the secret:
Salt isn't just a seasoning. It's a flavor amplifier.
A small amount of salt added at the right time can make citrus brighter, garlic richer, herbs more noticeable, and every Tasty Tin blend taste more like itself. And yes, that includes baking. A pinch of salt in a cookie dough or a quick bread goes a long way toward making the sweet flavors actually sing.
That's why I don't think of To Taste as "just salt and pepper." I think of it as one of the easiest ways to bring out the flavors that are already in your food.
Tasty Tin blends are intentionally lower-sodium.
Most commercial seasoning blends lead with salt. It's cheap, it's familiar, and it makes things taste good fast. But it also means you're getting a lot of salt before you ever get to the actual flavor.
I built Tasty Tin differently. Every blend is lower-sodium by design, so the garlic, the herbs, the citrus, the warmth from the spices, those are what you taste first. The salt is there, but it's not doing all the heavy lifting.
For some people, that's exactly what they're looking for. If you're watching your sodium intake, Tasty Tin blends are a great fit right out of the tin. But for those of us who want a little more salt in the mix? That's where To Taste comes in.
The ratio I use every time.
Here's my go-to trick:
For every tablespoon of Garlic Dust, Pryme Thyme, or Citrus Garlic Dust I use, I add a teaspoon of To Taste alongside it.
That's it. One tablespoon of blend, one teaspoon of To Taste.
It doesn't overpower the blend. It balances the salt level just enough to let the individual flavors open up and do their thing. The garlic gets richer. The herbs get more present. The citrus gets brighter. Everything tastes more like itself.
Speaking of citrus: let's talk about Citrus Garlic Dust.
Citrus Garlic Dust starts where Garlic Dust leaves off. If you know Garlic Dust, you know it's built on granulated garlic, a proprietary seafood blend that brings in warm, layered depth, and a handful of other ingredients that you wouldn't necessarily expect but would definitely miss if they were gone.
Citrus Garlic Dust takes that foundation and adds a whole citrus profile on top. Think lemon peel, orange peel, lime, lemongrass, and lemon thyme, among others. The result is bright, savory, and a little unexpected in the best way.
What I've been cooking with it.
I've been reaching for Citrus Garlic Dust constantly lately, and it's become my go-to for anything where citrus and savory need to meet in the middle.
Chicken is the obvious starting point. It works beautifully on white fish too: flounder, halibut, sea bass. It's incredible on shrimp. And if you've ever had crab seasoned with citrus and garlic, you already know where this is going. I'm working on a spicy crab linguini recipe right now that I can't wait to share.
I'm also testing a Honey Citrus Salmon that I have a feeling is going to be a good one. And then there's the less obvious stuff: watermelon and feta salad, anything where a bright citrus note can set off the savory in a way that makes you pause and think, "wait, what is that?" That's Citrus Garlic Dust doing its job.
If you want to see it in action on chicken, the Citrus Garlic Chicken Hunan Noodles recipe is a great place to start.
The short version.
Keep To Taste nearby. Use a teaspoon for every tablespoon of blend. Let the salt do what salt does best: make everything else taste more like itself.
And if you haven't tried Citrus Garlic Dust yet, it's a good place to start.
Shop Citrus Garlic Dust