I don’t know if these are well known, if they aren’t, give them a try.
Tomato sauces, if they are a bit bland try adding a dash of soy sauce.
If you want a ‘Beefier’ taste in a dish, add Vegemite/Marmite, it’s all umami and really helps. You can make Vegetarian French Onion Soup using it and meat eaters will love it.
Mushroom soup/ sauces, add cinnamon (preferably cassia, not true cinnamon). Just a small amount, below the threshold of where you can identify it as an ingredient. Iirc something about the phenols in the cassia boosts the mushroom flavors.
ETA: based on another comment, chocolate sauces/ Ganache, add vanilla and espresso. If you want the most delicious Reese’s peanut butter cup cheesecake, ice cream etc. You want a shot of espresso and a touch of vanilla.
If you have not tested yourself to see if you are a Supertaster, you should. It makes a world of difference when you are cooking for other people.
If you have others please add them, these are some of my favorites.
Citric acid. So many things benefit from a little extra acidity. You could just as easily use vinegar, but citric acid is a more neutral flavor than vinegar. It’s most similar to adding lemon juice without the extra liquid.
I love acid, I will happily eat a lemon or a lime like it was a mandarin. If that is you too, you might want to see if you are a SuperTaster.
Related: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Fat_Acid_Heat_(book)
Don’t write off vinegar just yet, but try apple cider vinegar or my favorite removediang or other aged rice wine vinegar. removediang is definitely a secret weapon in my kitchen arsenal that I use even when not shooting for Asian inspired flavors.
Great topic. Here’s a few of mine:
- Bay Leaf goes in almost any kind of broth.
- A tiny drop of vanilla extract for marinade that uses sugar will help bring that out more.
- Tomato Paste is a cheap and simple way to add a new dimension of acidity to boring tasting sauces or soups. This works in surprising places, like coconut broth-bases, or even mushroom gravy.
- Always add at least a pinch of salt to any sweet dishes. Any recipe that does not add salt for sweets is a bad recipe.
Sweet often goes with salt too. Asian food often calls for sugar in savory dishes.
Edit: I buy 500 grams of sugar every two years, plus about 100 grams of palm sugar.
Most likely known by anyone that regularly cook but
Add a small piece of dark chocolate to chilli con carne. Add some sugar to sauces made from canned tomatoes.
While baking bread, specifically sourdough or similar lean doughs, don’t just use 100% bread flour. Replacing ~20% or so with whole wheat flour, rye flour, semolina, or similar more flavorful flours makes a big difference in the final flavor of the bread. If you are using whole wheat, just keep in mind that it goes bad fairly quick due to the fat content in the germ, especially if you just keep it in the paper bag it came in. Just give the flour a smell before you use it; it should smell fairly neutral or good. Too many people will use whole wheat flour that’s been sitting in their cupboard for 5 years and gone rancid.
Baking cookies or other sweets try rum in place of vanilla. It’s cheaper by volume and everyone who has tried one of my cookies or cakes says they taste richer than anyone else’s.
