Dash

A dash is a very small amount of an ingredient, added by a quick shake of the bottle or jar. It is not exact. For dry spices it is usually taken as about ⅛ teaspoon, which is a little more than a pinch. For a liquid such as hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce or cocktail bitters, it means a few drops, about what comes out in one quick shake.

How to use it

Some measuring spoon sets include spoons marked "dash", "pinch" and "smidgen". On those sets a dash is ⅛ teaspoon (about 0.6 ml), a pinch is 1/16 teaspoon and a smidgen is 1/32 teaspoon. In a Swedish kitchen, a dash is a little under one krm.

For a liquid, hold the bottle upside down over the pot and give it one firm shake. If the bottle has a dropper or a dasher top, one dash is about 5 to 8 drops. A splash is larger, about a teaspoon to a tablespoon of something like vinegar, wine or cream.

A dash is meant for strong ingredients, where a little changes the dish: cayenne, hot sauce, bitters, nutmeg, liquid smoke, fish sauce or lemon juice. It is rarely worth measuring. Add one dash, stir, taste, and add another if you want more.

Common mistakes

• Shaking straight from a large jar of cayenne over the pot. Too much can come out at once. Shake it into your hand or a spoon first.
• Treating a dash of something very strong, like liquid smoke, as a splash. It can take over the dish.
• Leaving it out because it seems too small to matter. A dash of acid or heat often lifts a dish that tastes flat.

In recipes

You will see "a dash of hot sauce", "2 dashes aromatic bitters" and "a dash of salt and pepper". When a recipe says "a dash, or to taste", it is inviting you to adjust the seasoning yourself.