What does “eine Prise” mean in German?

This trailer for a Swiss twin-chef duel seasons its own description: regional specialties verfeinert mit Ehrgeiz — refined with ambition — and einer Prise Familienrivalität, a pinch of family rivalry. Eine Prise is the amount you grab between two fingers, as in eine Prise Salz, and German reaches for it figuratively exactly the way English uses “a pinch of.”

The word comes from French prise, “what is taken” — a Prise is literally a grab. The figurative recipe pattern is everywhere: eine Prise Humor, eine Prise Ironie, eine Prise Glück. Cooking-show German loves the matching verb too: verfeinern, to refine a dish — mit einer Prise of whatever the drama calls for.