Taste, Taste... "Needs Acid."

I don't know about you, but I taste my food as I'm making it. When I think it is almost ready to serve, I stop and taste it to see where it is at. Usually, it needs something else that would make it better. But what does it need?

Usually, I get narrow minded when I do this test. I'm looking for 2 things. First, salt because for some reason that always seems to make it taste better. Second I look for spice, maybe some pepper, or maybe some indian, mexican, thai, based on whatever I'm cooking. At my best I start looking for a lack of something savory like cheese or bacon, and I might even try to add some cream. But, there is an entirely different spectrum of taste that I was failing to think about.

Since I've started making wine, I have learned to look for the flavor of acidity, and it's balance with sugar. If you don't normally think about this, you should try it. It has really helped my cooking in a big way. Try thinking about it with your wine as well, it will make you a better wine connoisseur. 

How, you ask? Simple. Make some lemonade. Good lemonade is defined by the acid and sugar balance. Once you get the balance right, you can adjust the strength with water all you want and it will still taste pretty balanced. If you need a recipe for lemonade, try 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of lemon juice, and 5 cups of water. If you don't have lemon juice, then make some Koolaid, same idea.

Now back to dinner. How do we change the acid sugar balance of our food?

Acid = Vinegar, Lemon, Lime, Tomato. I recommend trying two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar for acidity, because it's my favorite.
Sugar = Honey, Agave, Sugar, Syrup. I recommend trying a tablespoon of brown sugar to increase the sugar balance, because it's my favorite too.