A familiar dish can taste wrong because the person missing from the table was part of its flavor.

Food carries more than ingredients. A dish learned in a particular kitchen comes with the noise of that kitchen, the person who made it, the arguments and the ordinary jokes around the table. When they are gone the recipe still works and the taste is still wrong, because a real part of what you were tasting was the company. Grief shows up in the senses long after it has been handled in words.

If a familiar thing has gone flat, it may help to name what is actually missing rather than to conclude you have lost your taste for it. Making it anyway, and saying whose it was, changes the experience for some people. Others need a while before they cook it again, and that is fine too.