A Pinch?

Cooking | Improv

Much of the time I feel like an improv actor on the receiving end of a shout of information, like “Cher!” or “cooked chicken!” or “in a penitentiary!” or “parsnips and eggs!” and I have to scramble around and make something of it. I don’t give myself the luxury of shopping for and following a recipe as often as I’d like. To that end I often find myself facing a crew of ingredients and having to order them into something edible with no particular measurements or ingredients called out. This kind of seat-o-the-pants cooking requires that I dig in with my paws and throw, drizzle, sprinkle and plop things into a dish as I go.

Ad hoc cooking is not recommended for casual baking, though, which requires exact measurements to ensure the correct outcome.

The Pinch

The pinch is what you can grab up of an herb or a spice with your thumb and first two fingers — just like the pinch you gave your little brother when he stole your red vines. And I have three pinch sizes:

A small pinch of dried herbs looks like this, and is about the same as 1/4 teaspoon:

These are dried herbs that are fairly broken down, like basil, thyme, oregano, herbs de Provence, for example. Because herbs are flavorings, the exact amount you use is a little flexible.

Here is a small pinch of a large leafy herb, in this picture, tarragon:

A regular pinch, just a “pinch” of dried herb looks like this, and amounts to a bit less than a 1/2 teaspoon:

And a pinch of leafy herbs looks like this:

A large pinch of dried herbs and leafy dried herbs feels like a pretty strong little-brother pinch, like you maybe got a good piece of him.  It looks like this:

Powdered herbs and spices pinch up a little differently. They are also more intense, so more than a just a pinch is rarely needed.

Sometimes you might want a couple of pinches of something, but it’s all about tasting as you go.