Flavourings are added to food to enhance its flavour. While their impact may be great, they are subsidiary to the food itself. They take the form both of things cooked with food, and those added to food once cooking is completed. In this section the concept of flavourings is broadly construed to include herbs, spices, salts, condiments, stocks, vinegars, oils and fats (except dairy fats which are discussed here.)

A herb is defined as a plant whose green parts, usually the leaves, but sometimes the stalks, are used. For eons, herbs have been used for medicinal, cosmetic and culinary purposes; here only the last-named is considered. Herbs are used fresh and dried. When dried, the water is removed, leaving the essential oils which give the herb its flavour, effectively concentrating the flavour of the herb. Generally about one-third the amount of a dried herb equates to its being used fresh. However, fresh and dried herbs are not always interchangeable; most dried herbs lose their fresh 'top notes' and those with especially volatile oils lack key flavour.

A spice is defined as any part of a plant other than the leaf, and may be the buds, bark, roots, rhizome, berries, seeds or stigma. Most spices are dried, many only aquiring their distinctive flavours by the enzymatic reactions triggered in the curing process. Their flavour is often heightened by dry-roasting.

A condiment is understood as a strongly flavoured savoury accompaniment to food, used at the table. Such flavourings are also used as seasonings in the kitchen.

Salty and sour flavours are derived from 'simple' salts and acidic fruit juices, and from complex fermented products, such as fish sauce, soy sauce and vinegar. These are often combined with spices and herbs to make mustards, pickles, chutneys and sauces.

Stocks and fats, as well as being cooking media, impart flavour and, in the case of oils, are used to season.

Flavourings are not necessarily consistent, and shoud be used judiciously.

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