The etymology of insulso leads us to insulsus , a Latin word that can be translated as “without salt.” That which lacks flavor , therefore, is described as bland.
For example: “I didn't like this dish, it seemed bland to me,” “What a bland cake! I was expecting something different” , “So that the recipe is not bland, it is important to add different aromatic herbs to the preparation” .
The dull is associated with the insipid or tasteless . While many foods have a distinctive flavor that is easily perceived, others are more bland and require the addition of salt , pepper and other seasonings to make them more palatable.
Suppose a person boils water in a pot and then throws in a handful of noodles. Once the pasta is cooked, he serves it and begins to eat. Surely this individual will find the food bland . This is because it is best to boil the noodles in salted water or, at least, accompany them later with oil or some sauce.
Bland food is a nightmare for cooking lovers: spending hours preparing a dish with great care and obtaining a result that tastes of nothing is very disappointing. Although there are people who are born with a special intuition for cooking, which leads them to experiment with different ingredients and seasonings almost always with success, the majority must work harder to achieve tasty dishes. In any case, there are several tricks to avoid failing in the attempt.
Before venturing to prepare a recipe, we must take into account a fundamental principle: too much seasoning is as serious as too little, if not worse. Food is not tastier the more different ingredients it has, but the secret lies in the combination, proportions and cooking.
It is clear that a bland dish is one whose flavor is not well defined. That is why it is very important to be very clear about our objectives before starting. Do we want a spicy or sweet, strong or mild result? To answer these and other questions, it is also necessary to know whether it is a main dish or a side dish, a sauce or a dressing. For example, recipes that are generally bathed in sauce should not have a very saturated flavor, since they are completed with this other part.
It is important to note that we must educate our palate before judging certain unusual foods . Asking the above questions also helps the diner, since we cannot say that a guacamole is bland just because it does not taste as intense as the filling of a Mexican taco.
Beyond cooking , the idea of bland is also used to refer to one or that thing that shows a lack of grace : “A bland young man talked to me at the bar, but I soon got bored and walked away from him,” “In a dull match, the local team drew goalless against the European team” , “My first job in film was a dull role: I had to play a slow and shy boy who hardly interacted with the rest of the characters” .
Needless to say, using this term to describe a person is not pleasant for them, but rather an insult. In fact, although it is not healthy to speak ill of someone behind their back, it is at least preferable to telling them in front that "they are dull." Precisely, in interpersonal relationships we all aim to leave a mark, to be remembered for something that distinguishes us; The dull individual does not know how to show that characteristic, which is why the people around him consider him lackluster.