impart flavor

Meaning

To give, transfer, or contribute a specific taste or aroma to food. This formal expression is commonly used in recipes, culinary reviews, and food science to describe how herbs, spices, cooking techniques, or cooking vessels influence the final taste of a dish.

Examples

• Slow-cooking the stew with a bay leaf will slowly impart flavor to the broth.

  Slow-cooking the stew with a bay leaf will slowly impart flavor to the broth.

• Oak barrels are used to age the whiskey and impart a distinct woody flavor.

  Oak barrels are used to age the whiskey and impart a distinct woody flavor.

• Searing the meat beforehand helps to seal in juices and impart flavor to the entire dish.

  Searing the meat beforehand helps to seal in juices and impart flavor to the entire dish.

• Be careful not to burn the garlic, as it can impart a bitter flavor to the sauce.

  Be careful not to burn the garlic, as it can impart a bitter flavor to the sauce.

• Different varieties of wood chips impart unique smoky flavors during the barbecuing process.

  Different varieties of wood chips impart unique smoky flavors during the barbecuing process.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ The spices share flavor to the chicken.

  ✓ The spices impart flavor to the chicken.

  'Share' implies dividing something among people. 'Impart' is the correct formal verb for transferring or giving an abstract quality like flavor.

• ✗ We added rosemary to impart flavor on the potatoes.

  ✓ We added rosemary to impart flavor to the potatoes.

  The verb 'impart' takes the preposition 'to' (impart something to something), not 'on'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Roasting the bones before making the stock will ___ a rich, deep ___ to the liquid.

  💡 Transfer or give a taste.

  Show answer

  impart flavor

• Fresh herbs should be added at the end of cooking so they can ___ without losing their brightness.

  💡 Give taste to the dish.

  Show answer

  impart flavor