Rule 10 of 27 · Chapter II — Salt and Seasoning
Season to taste, not to the recipe
Why this rule exists
A recipe's seasoning amounts are a starting point written by someone cooking with different salt, different produce, and a different palate, on a different day. Their teaspoon of salt and yours are not the same measure, because coarse and fine salt pack differently, and their tomatoes were sweeter or duller than the ones in your hand. Following seasoning numbers blindly is how you end up with food that is technically correct and somehow wrong: under-salted, flat, or missing the small final adjustment that would have made it sing. The recipe can tell you what to do and roughly how much; only your own tongue can tell you when it is right. Cooking well means treating the written amounts as advice and the taste in your mouth as the verdict.
In practice
Use the recipe's amounts as a guide, then taste before you serve and adjust: a little more salt, a squeeze of acid, a pinch of sugar to round a sharp sauce, a grind of pepper. Keep a clean spoon handy and taste at every meaningful stage, not just the end. Learn the questions to ask your palate: is it flat (salt), dull (acid), harsh (fat or sweetness), or lacking depth (more time, or a savory boost). Adjust one thing at a time so you can tell what worked. Over time you will trust the recipe less and your mouth more, which is exactly the point.
When it doesn't apply
Baking is chemistry, not seasoning, and there the measurements are load-bearing; do not freely adjust flour, leavening, or salt in a cake by taste. Cooking for others with different palates or restrictions means seasoning toward them, not just yourself. And when learning a brand-new cuisine, follow closely first, then adjust once you know the target.