Something is wrong and the pan is still on.

35 of 35.

• It tastes of nothingAlmost always salt or acid, and the two are hard to tell apart from inside the pot.Recoverable
• Too saltySalt is a concentration, so the only real correction is more of everything else.Recoverable, at a cost
• Too sharp or too acidicAcid is loud and it sits at the front of the palate, so a small excess reads as a large one.Recoverable
• Too sweetSweetness is the hardest axis to walk back because most of the things that balance it are themselves assertive.Recoverable, at a cost
• Rich to the point of being hard to eatUnrelieved richness rather than too much fat.Recoverable
• Too spicyCapsaicin is fat-soluble and not water-soluble, which is why a glass of water does nothing and a spoon of yoghurt does a great deal.Recoverable, at a cost
• The sauce is thin and will not coat anythingThree different problems wear the same face: too much water, no emulsion, or simply not enough body in the first place.Recoverable
• The sauce has splitThe fat and the water phase have stopped being dispersed in one another.Recoverable, at a cost
• Lumps in the sauceStarch that hit hot liquid faster than it could disperse.Recoverable
• It tastes of raw flourThe starch was thickening before it was cooked.Recoverable
• The sauce has gone glueyOverworked or overcooked starch.Not recoverable
• No crust — it is grey and steamingThe surface is still boiling off water, and nothing browns until the water is gone.Recoverable, at a cost
• It is welded to the panAlmost always impatience rather than a bad pan.Recoverable
• The pan has gone black and smells acridBrown is flavour and black is bitterness, and the line between them is about thirty seconds.Not recoverable
• It has been in for hours and it is still toughAlmost always undercooked rather than overcooked.Recoverable, at a cost
• It is cooked through and dryLean muscle that went past its window.Not recoverable
• The outside is done and the middle is coldThe heat was too high for the thickness.Recoverable, at a cost
• The skin is flabbySkin crisps when its water is gone and its fat has rendered.Recoverable
• The custard has scrambledEgg protein set.Recoverable, at a cost
• The cheese sauce has gone stringy or grainyCheese proteins tightened and squeezed out their fat.Recoverable, at a cost
• The eggs have gone rubberyToo much heat, too fast.Not recoverable
• The sauce slides off the pastaNo emulsion between the sauce and the pasta.Recoverable
• The rice is still crunchyIt ran out of water before it ran out of cooking, or the lid was letting steam go.Recoverable
• The rice has gone to mushToo much water, too much stirring, or both.Recoverable, at a cost
• The vegetables steamed instead of roastingThey were sitting in their own water.Recoverable, at a cost
• The dough has not movedCold, or dead.Recoverable, at a cost
• The pastry is toughGluten developed, which is the whole opposite of what pastry wants.Recoverable, at a cost
• The pie base is raw underneathThe filling went in before the base had set, and steam did the rest.Recoverable, at a cost
• The caramel has gone grainy and solidOne sugar crystal fell back into the syrup and seeded the rest.Recoverable
• The caramel has gone past itSugar goes from copper to bitter in about thirty seconds, and a heavy pan carries it two shades darker after it leaves the heat.Not recoverable
• The drink is harsh and hotUnder-dilution.Recoverable
• The drink is wateryOver-dilution, and unlike almost everything else here it is not reversible — you cannot take water back out of a glass.Not recoverable
• The sour is out of balanceNearly always short of sugar rather than long on citrus, and the palate reports it the other way round — which is why the instinctive correction makes it worse.Recoverable
• The egg white will not foamIce went in too early.Recoverable
• There is sugar sitting in the bottom of the glassGranulated sugar dissolves slowly in cold liquid.Recoverable, at a cost