To marinate is to soak food, usually meat, poultry, or seafood, in a seasoned liquid called a marinade before cooking, to add flavor and, for tougher cuts, some surface tenderizing. Marinating times range from a few minutes for delicate seafood to a day or more for dense cuts of meat; marinating too long in a strongly acidic or enzyme-based marinade can make the surface mushy rather than tender. The practice appears across many cuisines, including vinegar-based marinades in ancient Rome and soy- or rice-wine-based marinades in East Asian cooking. Food should be marinated in the refrigerator rather than at room temperature, and any marinade that has touched raw meat or seafood must be discarded or boiled before it is used as a sauce.