Findings Concerning Spice Confidence
The meal has been cooking for twelve minutes. It looks like it needs more spice. Spice has been added. The meal has not been tasted.
The curry was cooking at 7:32pm.
At 7:44pm, after twelve minutes of cooking, it looked pale. This is an observation about the curry's visual presentation. The visual presentation of a curry does not reliably indicate its spice level.
More chili powder was added.
The Forensic Analysis
The look of a curry during cooking reflects: color from turmeric, which lightens with water; surface texture from fat separation; the distribution of solids versus liquid. None of these are reliable spice indicators.
Spice content is determined by: the amount of chili added at the beginning, the concentration of other spices, and the volume of liquid, which dilutes all flavors proportionally.
The curry at 7:44pm had adequate spice for the household. This information was available via tasting. Tasting was not performed.
The Confidence Source
The confidence that more spice was needed came from:
- The curry looked pale (visual information, not spice information).
- Previous experience with pale-looking curries being underseasoned (correlation that may or may not apply).
- The cook's general preference for more spice (personal bias applied to someone else's dinner in this case).
The Outcome
The curry was tasted at 7:49pm, after the additional spice had been absorbed. The curry was now spicier than intended for the household.
The spice cannot be removed. The curry was served with extra yogurt.
The yogurt helped. The next curry will be tasted before adjustment. The next curry's appearance will also suggest it needs more spice.