Seasoning vs. Flavoring — What's the Difference?

Seasoning involves the addition of ingredients like salt, pepper, herbs, and spices to a dish to enhance its existing flavors. This process is crucial in cooking to bring out the natural tastes of the food without significantly changing the original flavor profile. On the other hand, flavoring refers to the incorporation of substances, often in the form of extracts, essences, and chemicals, to add new or stronger flavors to food that might not be inherent in the ingredients themselves.

In terms of usage, chefs use seasonings during the cooking process to adjust the flavors of a dish subtly. Common seasonings include table salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper, which are used to accentuate the taste of the main ingredients. Whereas flavorings are often added to transform or heavily modify the taste of food and beverages, such as vanilla extract in baked goods or artificial flavorings in candy and soda.

Seasoning is usually done with a light hand to avoid overpowering the dish’s original flavors, focusing on complementing and enhancing these flavors. In contrast, flavoring can be more heavy-handed, particularly with artificial flavorings designed to dominate or entirely define the taste of a product, such as in flavored chips or candies.

Both seasonings and flavorings play essential roles in culinary arts, but their purposes differ significantly. Seasonings aim to improve the palatability of food by enhancing natural flavors, while flavorings are used to create a specific taste experience, often independent of the food's original flavors.

While natural seasonings are typically derived from herbs and spices, flavorings might include both natural extracts, like lemon or almond, and synthetic compounds designed to mimic specific flavors. This distinction is important for those concerned with food purity and avoiding artificial additives.