People Who Put More Salt On Their Food Before Even Tasting It

If it's adequately salted, then salting before trying might result in a completely ruined meal.

So at first sight, it seems illogical. However, if you're the kind of salt-desensitised person for whom most food is served undersalted, then strategy #2 has the advantage of being the right one most of the time.

Basically, it's just a high-risk strategy. And the world wasn't built by people who always played it safe.

(x-poste)

I'm guessing you mean in the context of eating at someone else's house. In that case, I would think that salting the food before tasting it might actually present less risk of offending the cook. Because if you taste the food first and then salt it, you are implying that the food is undersalted or bland. But if you just sprinkle on salt willy-nilly, without tasting first, you are simply showing that you are a salt-o-phile who is crazy about salt, which doesn't imply anything about the abilities of your chef.

How do people feel about doing the same with the peppermill?

What!? I'm not a big fan of ketchup (I prefer mustard on fries, actually) but it's traditional on fries in America.

otm... when did we start equating restaurants with elementary school cafeterias? the person who came up with the recipe presumably gave a lot of thought to how he wanted the food to taste; i think of cooking as artistry and i want to respect the person that made it. unless it's a denny's or something, i mean that's just high-school kids putting buggers into the food.

I most certainly do not think of cooking as artistry. It's food, it's not art.

But yes, taste first, then season to your palate.

That's an extreme case and it would be extreme of the chef to assume that everyone has his/her palate. I'm just saying, try it their way before you salt it. If you're in Belgium, try fries with mayo before returning to your customary sauce. Yeah, maybe it's gross, but to be so hidebound, asthetically rigid and small minded as to not experiment in foreign countries or other people's tables is to condemn yourself, at best, to being a boor.

Compare with pepper, or grated cheese. Order a salad, or a plate of pasta, and they don't wait for you to taste it before deciding whether you want these things. They serve you the basic dish and then ask you up front whether you want the extras.

I certainly wouldn't think they were a boor.

Most cooks (of any variety) prefer to err on the side of undersalting common foods, since salt-lovers can always salt to taste right there at the table. That's the whole point of having them there.

Exactly.

Sorry, I didn't quite catch that, can you take that silver spoon out of your mouth? LOL

jbr OTM regarding grated cheese, there are a multitude of reasons besides "OMG people do whatever WTF" to not add that to the dish in the kitchen. Note they will ask you if you want cheese even in cheese-sauce dishes.

This is no more insulting to the chef's design than it is to specify how you want your steak done! I mean, sure, it'd be annoying to watch somebody just demolish your flavors with salt, but adding-before-tasting does not mean demolishing. It just means recognizing that most dishes do not come "with salt," and sometimes you want a dish "with salt."

xpost

Why do people have a problem with this? In no way is an insult to the cook's judgement.

Yeah, this is also true.

Because sometimes you enjoy going out and getting some other chump to cook you a meal occasionally

In the end I ended up salting her fries in the kitchen so I wouldn't have to hear about her goiter anymore. But she told me about it again anyway.

xpost hahahaha omg.

But as I keep saying, some people, through experience, know that chefs always serve food with less salt than they like. It would be kind of ridiculous for them to always try a mouthful every time and go "Nope, needs more salt!". It would be like a running joke in a sitcom!

Same goes for spiciness, where people will ask you how spicy you want things. Those of you so in thrall to the chef's decision-making should do share a dish of kitfo with my mom, without the benefit of being asked how you'd like it spiced.

xpost DUDES chefs pitch their saltiness levels at the average eater or -- if anything -- I think they're likely to go below. This is just common sense. You can't "unsalt" a meal, and an oversalty meal is totally inedible. So OF COURSE they're going to keep the salt levels low to moderate; the choice is between half the restaurant not being able to eat their meals or the other half happily salting at table; it's an easy decision. So if you know full well that you like meals saltier (or spicier) than the average eater, of course you salt, especially if you happen to be in the mood for some salt.

Wow, whoever knew people could be that holier-than-thou about other people's salt intake?

i have hardly ever in my entire life found this to be the case. the amount of salt cooks use is perfectly fine. if the food's bad, the amount of salt isn't usually why.

In other words, you're common as muck... apparently

i have hardly ever in my entire life found this to be the case. the amount of salt cooks use is perfectly fine. if the food's bad, the amount of salt isn't usually why.

Yes, you're not one of those people, jbr.

xpost enrique hasn't that discussion already occurred about 800 times on ilx? CF the smoking ban in Britain thread.

I kind of doubt she really meant it, dadaismus.

I don't eat that much salt nowadays.

Not on ILX tho? (ILX in "being reasonable" shockah!)

Usually the neck.

http://images-partners.google.com/images?q=tbn:wA9iwfLvlnPFUM:www.moresaltplease.com/images/salt%2520shaker.gif http://images-partners.google.com/images?q=tbn:DVQMI22OQ1MsqM:static.howstuffworks.com/gif/battery-9v1.jpg

Let's talk about salt!

But mostly, this thread has made me revisit a couple of classic Kids in the Hall scenes, both, I think, involving HAM.
"You, you would salt fish from the dead sea!"
vs
"I like a little FLAVOUR in my food!"

That's not respect, that's presumption. Taste the food. Is it salty enough for your taste? If so, enjoy. If not, feel free to add some salt. I have yet to go to a restaurant, even amongst the most high-falootin', that will not provide you with salt, free of charge. It is common courtesy, hoever, to taste the food before you salt it. What will you do, Nabisco, when you end up in a new restaurant where the chef uses a high amount of salt and you've just liberally sprinkled your meal with salt?

PLEASE SAY ICE CREAM IS ONE OF THESE DISHES

http://www.geocities.com/zoidberg_fan/episodes/images/bender_cook.gif

xpost

- People who ask for cheese on their burgers without even tasting the burgers
- People who ask for bleu cheese on their salads without even seeing how the salads taste without it
- People who ask for their steaks well-done without even sampling a a rare one to see how that is
- People who tie their shoelaces without first walking around with their shoelaces untied to see if maybe that looks cooler
- People who change the channel without waiting to see if maybe the show it was already on was really, really good
- People who buy an external mouse for their laptops without really checking whether the built-in trackpad suited their purposes

I've only had one person ever request more salt, and it's my mother-in-law's boyfriend who went through chemo a couple of years ago and has a pretty shot sense of taste, so he salts the hell out of everything.

As for salting food before even tasting it, I read something once about job interviewer/recruiter type person who said he'd be reluctant to hire anyone who salted food preemtively. It points to compulsion and a habitually following of some sort of routine that might not even be necessary, and saw it as something that would limit the person's ability to break out and do things differently. I sort of agree with him.

Bruce: It's that salty bloody ham!

Scott: The ham we had at dinner?

Bruce: Yes! Was there another ham?

Scott: You didn't like it...

Bruce: No, I didn't like the ham, dear; it was a little bit salty, thanks.

Scott: Well, you certainly wolfed enough of it down.

Bruce: I didn't wolf it down. A man works all day, he expects a normal ham meal, not Goddamn bastard brine!

Scott: I don't know what could have gone wrong...

Bruce: Well *something* did!

Scott: I didn't do anything different... I went down to Deatrix and picked myself up a choice 6 pound Virginia ham.

Bruce: Did you drop it in *salt* on the way home, perhaps?

Scott: No, I basted it with a mustard glaze, then I put maraschino cherry and pineapple spears in it and popped it in a 350 degree oven for....2 hours.

Bruce: A man my age shouldn't be up *all* night looking for Gatorade streams in the backyard!

Scott: Let's be fair to the ham, dear. Ham is a salty food. It's not like porridge, or toast, or a pear.

Bruce: I know that *ham* isn't porridge, or toast, or a pear. Jesus Christ! What do I expect from you? You come from a long line of horrible cooks. Your old lady's a horrible cook!

[Scott looks shocked.]

Bruce: Oh, admit it! Everything with her is so bland, I could puke! She would boil a Pop-Tart, where as you--you would salt fish from the Dead Sea!

Scott: Oh, go on.

[Bruce goes and looks in the mirror. He pulls his pajamas back a little and indicates his left side.]

Bruce: You know what's gonna happen to me? I'm gonna get a big pussy boil right on my neck! Is that what you want in bed with you? A big pus boil shooting salt over your good bed linens.

Scott: Yeah!

[Bruce goes back over to the bed.]

Bruce: Christ! I work hard all day, I expect a normal ham meal, not, not--Voodoo pork!

[Bruce sits down.]

Bruce: You know what this reminds me of, don't you?

Scott: I hate to guess.

Bruce: The mushroom pork incident.

Scott: Oh! When will you ever let me live that one down?

Bruce: Who but you would screw up something as simple as a pork chop? Smother it in mushroom sauce. Every--

Scott: It was gravy!

Bruce: It was horrid!

Scott: And besides that was a long time ago. [Dreamy] That was when we lived in the blue house, remember?

Bruce: I see a pattern developing. [Gets up] I'm banishing pork!

Scott: What?

Bruce: I've made a decision to banish park. It's not coming in through that *door*; it's not coming in through that *window*; your rock star son isn't bringing it home in his fag hair.

Scott: You watch your--

Bruce: As of today, we are a pork-free household. *I* have spoken!

[Bruce gets in bed.]

Scott: Well, I guess there's no point in me making you ham sandwiches for your lunch tomorrow.

Bruce: No honey, no point whatsoever.

Scott: Fine, you'll jsut have to eat in the cafeteria then. See how you like that, it's *ham* Tuesday.

Bruce: Great!

Scott: Well you seem to know so much about cooking, Gordon, why don't you *do* all the cooking around here?

Bruce: Why don't you shut up around here?

Scott: No, no, no, no, no. We'll knock a hole in the ceiling, drag the BBQ in, tattoo an apron to your chest, you can cook to your heart's content.

Bruce: Shut up!

Scott: It just gets my goat! You wake me up in the middle of a lovely dream about Berry Gordy taking me to the Grammys--

Bruce: Shut up!

Scott: --to harangue me about some stupid ham.

Bruce: I think it was a little salty.

Scott: I don't think it's fair, Gordon. I do everything in my power to be a good wife to you. I fold sheets and pillow cases, I shoo the kids out of that precious garden of yours.

Bruce: Shut up!

Scott: I do everything in my power short of greeting you at the door in Saran wrap.

Bruce: Oh shut up about that stuff!

Scott: And for what? For *nothing*! For once in our marriage I would just like to have the last--

Bruce: SHUT UP!

Scott: --word!

[Scott rolls over and lies down. Bruce just sits there for a few seconds, staring into space.]

Bruce: I am tired; I am salty; I require *silence*.

[Bruce sighs and then looks at Scott. He pats Scott's waist.]

Bruce: Ahh, you old soldier.

[Bruce starts to rub Scott's arm. Scott takes his hand.]

Bruce: Uh, listen, mother...is there any more of that nice dessert left?

Scott: [so quietly you can barely hear it.] Jello 1 2 3?

Bruce: What's that?

Scott: The Jello 1 2 3?

Bruce: Yeah, I think I'm gonna go get myself a little bit of that.

[Bruce gets up and puts his robe on.]

Scott: Well there's a little bit left in the fridge, but be on your guard, it's beside the ham. Might have been some salt transfer.

[Bruce burps and walks out.]

[Scott picks up the telephone and calls someone.]

Scott: Hello Barbara? It's Fran calling. Sorry to wake you so late, dear, but I was just wondering if you knew how to cook a whole pig. You tried what? Swedish meatballs tartare? How'd it go over with the family, dear? I see. Well if you need a place to stay...

xpost. Kids in the hall is real.

Ha - despite everything I've said I kind of agree with this too. Though for some people, it's good to hire people who like routine.

This is fucking bonkers.

xpost

There's a sushi place I go to that does exactly that. The chef prepares the sushi based upon whatever he liked at the fish market that morning so there's no menu - you just sit down and eat. Terrific place, I especially like the "NO CALIFORNIA ROLLS" sign on the front window.

Erm, Casa Telecom does...

That is AWESOME.

http://www.paracay.com/Merchant2/graphics/products/PGN077.jpg

'Salt' was pretty good, actually.

If I ever own a restaurant, I think I will save patrons from the snobbery of their peers by putting extra listings on the menu:

12 oz. steak .................... $12.99
12 oz. steak (salty) ............ $13.02

Though actually, if I were to own a restaurant, I still think it would be hilarious to push the notion of food as art to a kind of satirical level:

Horror of War Stew .............. $14.95
Human ears braised in napalm reduction, served with a gunpowder-steel reduction.

"Found" Appetizer Plate ......... $12.50
A daily assortment of found-art finger-foods, including a tureen of vintage used gum.

Minimalist Special .............. Market Price
Blackened animal bones. Ask your server for animal details.

I was bracing myself for you to say something completely different.

xpost oh no you di'in't

Also, not salting meat, especially a steak, is just wrong. Adding salt afterwards will not give the same flavor that salting and then cooking will.

Joygoat, so far as I'm concerned a salty dish is "a very different thing" from a less-salty one -- and one or the other is indeed "good depending on what [I'm] in the mood for at the time." It makes just as big a difference to me as cheese or hot sauce.

I don't believe you.

I heartily agree - this is why when I cook something, I salt it at every stage and check it again before I serve it. Cooking something with salt from the beginning is very different than just adding salt at the end.

But I still maintain that hamburger vs. cheeseburger is a much different thing than burger (properly cooked, as in the meat is salted before its grilled/broiled) vs. burger with more salt added at the table.

Salt is also different from less salt.

Some of us just happen to be interested in the variety of effects that can be created across the salt spectrum. (Or at least the range between "how stuff is served" and "how it would with lots of extra salt.")

If we salt things pre-tasting, it may honestly be that we're in the mood for something significantly more salty than any sane restaurant would serve as a default.

People Who Put More Shrimp On Their Food Before Even Tasting It (178 new answers)
People Who Put More Cheddar-Jack On Their Food Before Even Tasting It (312 new answers)

*bites tongue*

xpost

http://members.cox.net/mokwella/classic/saltvampire.jpg

(a) The beauty of having salt on the table is that the customer doesn't have to "find" something adequately salty. If he's in the mood for something salty, he doesn't have to order the Very Salty Catfish in order to satisfy that craving -- he can order the steak he wants and then very easily make it a bit more of a Very Salty Steak.

(b) You're reinforcing my sense that some folks are just kind of snobby butter-inners about other people's taste buds, something I don't really understand except when it comes to black olives, because anyone who likes those things is demonstrably subhuman.

To M White: One can very easily give something a light dusting of salt, taste it, and then make a decision about whether that dusting was sufficient or further salting is necessary. All you're doing is giving yourself a head start. Similarly: if you're driving to a place that's an hour away, you can go a good thirty minutes before you start checking for the exit.

--If it's at Chili's and has spent most of its life in a freezer, who cares.

--If it's a pile of french fries and I want to drown my sorrow in salt, that's my goal and I will salt with impunity.

--If it's at a respectable dining establishment or someone's HOUSE, I do think it's a little rude to just salt away without considering that the food might taste good the way it is.

If that's what M White is saying, I agree.

M. White, I am fine with the fact that we have different palates and approach food differently. The one thing that bothers me on this thread is the sense that some people have been criticizing others for having different palates/approaches, which just seems totally strange and unnecessary.

Of the basic taste bud sensors mentioned above, I like the most interesting (subjective to be sure) and oftimes the most subtle (again to me) combinations, not necessarily always within the same dish but perhaps partially within a dish and otherwise throughout the meal. Too much salt, like too much sugar, or excessive use of aromatics (truffles and garlic spring to mind) just beat all the other flavors up and rob your meal. Salt does enhance flavor (ever salted a ripe peach or cantaloupe?) up until that point when it actually becomes the dominant flavor. Apart from the social convention (logical enough I think in this case) that calls for not pre-salting food, the risk of reaching that 'I can't taste this steak 'cause my little brother loosened the top of the salt cellar and now it just tasts of salt' stage is not worth gambling with for me.

But you haven't even tasted to see how large a weight the chef has already put on the scale.

I wish Sriracha was at every table instead of salt.

Depends on where you live.

--If it's at Chili's and has spent most of its life in a freezer, who cares.

--If it's a pile of french fries and I want to drown my sorrow in salt, that's my goal and I will salt with impunity.

--If it's at a respectable dining establishment or someone's HOUSE, I do think it's a little rude to just salt away without considering that the food might taste good the way it is.

If that's what M White is saying, I agree.

-- The Milkmaid (82375538-A) (showdown@wormtown.com) (webmail), March 3rd, 2006 4:44 PM. (The Milkmaid) (later) (link)

This is basically, yes, what I think people are saying. No one is getting OFFENDED that some people are just really interested in eating salt. Though I will make sure if I ever have a dinner party with nabisco to just serve him a salt-lick!!!

Secondly, your behavior taints your baseline; if you salt the food first, you will never know if it actually needed salt or not.

Thirdly, salt is not pepper! If you're going to abuse a seasoning, go for TEH HOTTNESS.

(xpost: are you people serious? Hahahaha! DEADLY)

This makes sense in the abstract, but in practice do you actually walk into a restaurant thinking "tonight I want to eat especially salty food, saltier than I usually enjoy"? Or do you think "I am a person who always likes my food saltier than the average person's"? Neither of those is a familiar sentiment to me.

Second, Robyn: you should have heard me laugh at the Lot's wife ref. I think I went to too much Sunday School.

Third, to All: I want to go to any restaurant that puts cheese on the table as a condiment.

For instance, if you're trying to weigh an elephant with balancing scales, the most efficient method will be to put a very large weight on the other side before you start adding smaller ones. You would not look at the elephant and then eyeball the exact balance-weight all at once.

1. The elephant gets on the scale.
2. The scale tips.
3. You decide you need more weight.

This is directly analogous to:

1. You are served some food.
2. You taste it.
3. You decide it needs some salt.

IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE

xpost hahahahahahahahaha

-- The Milkmaid (82375538-A) (showdown@wormtown.com) (webmail), March 3rd, 2006 5:01 PM. (The Milkmaid) (later) (link)

xpost Jeffrey Steingarten is a great man but...well...I don't trust his opinion on health and water retention issues, let's put it that way.

you haven't even tasted to see how large a weight the chef has already put on the scale + you can't look at a plate of food and unequivocally say "That needs salt" without tasting it first

And the answer is yes, you can! Honestly! I keep saying this, but I'm not sure you guys know what I mean. What I'm saying is that most common dishes -- in common eateries -- are served in a predictable range of saltiness. Moderate saltiness. A level of saltiness that's appealing to a large number of people, and won't result in people sending their food back. This is well and good and as it should be.

But sometimes -- SOMETIMES -- I walk into a restaurant craving something that is very salty. Like, significantly saltier than that predictable/moderate range at which successful restaurants serve food. When it arrives, I have a pretty good picture of how salty the food is -- it's normal-food salty! But I don't want normal-food salty -- I want saltier than that! (Maybe I have a recurring iodine deficiency; I dunno; but it happens.) So without even tasting the food, I can know that a preliminary dusting of salt is moving me in the right direction. After that first dusting, I'll probably want to take a bite and see where I stand.

This method makes perfect sense to me, and I can't recall any instance in which it's failed me. So I'm curious why people would have a problem with it.

(xpost: IT'S BECAUSE SOME OF US CAN'T FUCKING STAND SALT BECAUSE OF CHILDHOOD FOOLISHNESS AND CAN'T FATHOM WHAT YOU SALTY BASTARDS ARE THINKING)

[shake shake] I just salted this post.

Nabisco, you must like a level of salt far beyond what I could enjoy/contemplate.

having said that, my sister has some bizarro tastebud idiosyncrasy where she always wants things saltier than any earthly restaurant/cook is likely to serve them. so she salts things without tasting, relying on previous experience. (this is on a level where stuff she's presalted is inedible to me.) maybe nabisco suffers from a similar affliction?

black olives are amazing.

Nabisco, do you hate kalamata olives and the like?

Lick your finger first.

I think the difference between us isn't that I "like salt" more than you -- frequently I don't like salt at all -- but more that I am fine with very wide variations in the amount of salt in a dish. This would probably suggest that I'm less "sensitive" to salt than you. And this would mean that what would look to you like an egregious assault of salt might not be as overpowering to others as you might think. And all of this seems to me like a reason to kind of give other people the benefit of the doubt in terms of flavoring the things that go into their mouths.

If it's so offensive, why put salt and pepper on the table? Like it or lump it, foo.

DUDE STOP

Dan, Jesus, what am I doing that's so bothersome? Asking other people to allow that I'm a big boy and can figure out what to do with my food?

I have salt pretty close to the table, just not on it. I have a small table.

Just as another funny note: can I admit that I am kind of chuckling at everyone here who says "I salt things to optimal taste and nobody's ever asked for more salt?" Because this leaves the possibility that the food is actually way too salty, and everyone's just too polite to say so.

Me, that's who.

Only with gunpowder

xpost

http://chezlatina.com/I/chezlatina_1693_9343377.jpg

http://www.greggman.com/pages/hawaiian%20food/salt.jpg

http://www.mortonsalt.com/images/products/IodizedPlain_Salt.jpg

(haha, I think that Lot's wife story always stuck in my head b/c I was like, why SALT? Also, b/c I didn't go to much Sunday school really, I just reread the Lot story and holy cow, sodomy and destruction and incest all over the place. I'm pretty sure they didn't talk about that in any Sunday school I went to...)

also, i forgot the most important kind of all!! ---->>>

http://www.jtdirect.net/prodimages/Grocery/Spices/KSaltLrg.jpg

(hard salted liquorice)

xpost i hate you.

like salt and vinegar potato chips! which I know are objectively disgusting, but can never stop eating once I've started.

I think we're really working through some essential stuff in this thread.

the point was that this particular container had a BRILLIANT POURING NOZZLE

i don't think it wz saxa salt (but it might have been)

http://www.spelman.karoo.net/saxophone/saxa.jpg

but, it seems like salt serves a similar function in both salt-and-vinegar chips and those gross candies mark s is eating, to mask an essentially disgusting flavor with sheer saltiness. at a certain level, salt is like mustard: it will overwhelm any other ingredient, and it can be deployed strategically to market disgusting snack foods.

http://www.noyescafe.com/Clubhouse%20sandwich%20and%20French%20fries%201.jpg

isnt getting salt all over it.

Additionally, you seem to be making the assumption that a salter is slathering the entire dish when presalting. In my case, when desiring more salt ahead of time, much as the person who tastes a bite without adding anything, I will use one or two pieces as a test for fine tuning.

Third..the chef is the servant here, not the eater. He is being paid to prepare food, not to bitch about patrons altering his GRAND DESIGN. If I am cooking for people, it tends to be because I like to do it and want to fix something. Alter as you please, who the hell am I to tell you how to eat?

SALT NAZIS MUST DIE!

(anywhere = Shop Rite)

The last time I bought salt was about four years ago. It's a ~ 700 ml container and I've gone through maybe a third of it.

And Mr. Salt Shaker wouldn't like that.

I use salt every day but I do it judiciously, and use nice salt. A few grains in a sweet recipe brings out the sweetness; in savoury recipes I can smell when there's not enough or too much. Recipes with none are the Devil's work brought to rain down suffering on already miserable heart patients, the 'pinch' is essential to the cooking process. See Mark Kurlansky for further details.

so while the chef is not always right sometimes the chef is always right

http://www.andmas.co.uk/womansworld/food/recipes/tripe/images/cerebos.jpg

(above from a page called TRIFE TRIPE AND ONIONS! i love the concept behind this logo: "BEST SALT TO USE FOR NON-COOKERY OLD-WIVE'S-TALE-TESTING PURPOSES!" um what does cerebos mean? dave sim to thread... )

but as the picture demonstrares, modern chemico-industrial ingenuity has put the mockers on that

the (flightless) bird would be on a curling stone*

the salt that failed to hit the bird's tail would of course cause natural obstacles on the ice (ie melted patches of unslippy water slishily frictionful water), avoiding these obsatactle, termed "salt bunkers", being possibly the most testing element in the sport -- the point of the "curling" being to arc the stone's course subtly difftly from the salter's, so avoid the resulting bunkers created by yr own and yr opponents' earlier failed attempts at tail-salting

the salter launches self curling style; the birder launches the birdstone simultaneously from a difft point - the art is that within the salting zone they come together so that the former can salt the latter BUT all the old birdstones and saltbunkers are there as obstacles --- i guess the obejctive is to salt as many birds as possible out of [xx] and plus stop yr opponent salting as many -- HIJINX WILL ENSUE

*like everyone else it would be given "curling boots" shd it decide to RUN (ie one slippy one sticky)

(guess who is meant to be phoning for quotes on car insurance today)

I do love me the salty licorice.

What I don't get AT ALL is why some people get up in arms about salting food that has been prepared for you. I've heard the argument, "You obviously don't like how it tasted as I cooked it so you're changing it," but that doesn't hold water because everyone's palate is different.

If the person cooking it were devoted to making a dish that was not to be altered by salting, then that cook should take into account the eater's individual taste for salt.

(xpost: hahahaha Kim!)

Etiquette in America (British chums, this is no oxymoron) now dictates that all dressings and seasonings are whacked on the side and peanut product-free to avoid those annoying, costly lawsuits you're always hearing about. Yes the dressing is fattening! Don't let's be beastly about pressing charges if you put a gallon of it on every trip to the salad bar and wake up as a 300lb foodhog with entitlement issues.

The shift in manners where it's suddenly OK to mention dietary restrictions that affect the GI tract practically at high table is one I find incredibly off-putting, although early fearlessness about such matters for medicine's sake lets me chat plumbing as well as anyone. But please, enough about what makes you fart when I'm about to put some of it in my mouth.

Ed and I were discussing salt placement as a class issue; it was deemed hilarious (at least by me) that Alba raised it first. My mom, who is lower-middle (Marge from Fargo, minus police work, plus poodle and cigarettes) puts a cruet set of some sort on the table. Ed has the condiments near the side (however much cracked pepper gets put on things, I need more), which I do unless I'm throwing a dinner-part where things are family-style, then on go the condiments to the table, but they have to be nice ones. Even the world's best cooks have to accept that there's always going to be That Guy that wants a little something extra, and they're not to take it personally.

(My answer: salting and peppering a piece of meat doesn't change the flavor that much for me; it tastes the same, just, umm, saltier, or pepperier. Put A1 on a piece of steak, though, and I can't taste it any more, at all -- apart from the texture, I might as well be eating meatloaf dipped in vinegar.)

ketchup is much milder than A1, and to me as well as many people integral to the flavor of french fries as an eating experience the way A1 is not to steak.

Salt and vinegar is what people in the UK put on chips, plus regional variations (500 new answers by the start of the Oscars). I hate the combination, for me it's like alum in a Warner Brothers cartoon.

and boar's head spicy b-b-q sauce! mmmmmmm....(the secret ingredient in my meat loaf. shhhhhhh!)

Having said that,I am one of those saltophiles.
Have been ever since a kid, and used to eat pure salt sometimes (still do).
I don't do the add extra salt (before or after tasting) when other people cook, though, unless they offer, as it would seem rude to me.

Notice I have no comment on the ACTUAL THREAD TOEPICK.

some comedian on BET I saw once about 15 years ago

How about dishes cooked in a salt crust? Is the proper etiquette to sprinkle on more salt before or after removing the baked-on salt shell?

I order salad dressing on the side so I can decide how much salad dressing is on my salad, IF I'm ordering, like, just a garden salad or somesuch. If I'm ordering a salad in which the dressing is considered an essential part of the salad (like a Caesar's or some other more prepared salad) I don't. In any case, salads are designed to be dressed -- and waffled and pancakes syrup-ed -- in a way that foods are not designed to be salted.

that why i love the dude who wrote the salt book cuz he wrote the cod book too and salt cod is teh yum and now he has a new book on oysters cuz he is one briney motherfucker. my pal maggie made a salt whole chicken once that was soooooooooooooooooooooo amazingly good.

I think word on the health street is: if you're predisposed to salt-induced high blood pressure, reduce your dietary sodium intake; but many people can eat salt by the ladleful and it won't affect their pressure; so find out which type you are and season accordingly.

Seriously, if I ever eat at any of your houses I am going to spend the entirety of dinner asking questions: "Is this bite an acceptable size? Is it okay if I alternate bites between the fish and the asparagus, or should I combine them in each forkful? Is it okay if I take a sip of this water while the potatoes are still in my mouth? Do you mind if I swish this piece of meat around in the gravy before I eat it? Can I have a second helping of greens, or would that interfere with your master plan for portion sizing? Could you please watch me put the dressing on this salad, and tell me when to stop, so I don't dress it more than you deem appropriate for me?"

Alternately, if you ever stop by my house for dessert: "Would you like this pie a la mode? HOW DO YOU KNOW, YOU HAVEN'T EVEN TASTED IT YET."

that is so beautiful. i'm putting that up on the fridge.

Oh my God, I'm totally going to do this to everyone I know.

lolsome.

"I'll have a glass of Scotch."

"On the rocks?"

"HOW THE HELL WOULD I KNOW -- SERVE ME THE SCOTCH AND I'LL TELL YOU IF IT NEEDS TO BE ANY COLDER."

I made a cobbler for Christmas dinner once with two cups of salt in the topping. I was cooking at my mother's house, and all of her staples were in cannisters. I thought it was sugar. One of my sons, who was about five at the time, finished dinner early and was begging and begging for dessert, being a total pain in the butt. Finally I relented and gave him some. Instantly he starts whining. I go "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!!!! JUST EAT IT!!!!" Then my sister tasted it and gave me the bad news.

Beth, our local bakery made a similar mistake, sprinkling the lovely raspberry scones with pretzel salt. It was a sad morning.

(But there are exceptions to every rule.)

I dont see the point of salt on meat anyway. Some things NEED tons of salt though. I challenge anyone to eat a bowl of plain lentils and see how they like it. Salt makes them into a miracle.

Garlic and lemonjuice also get results if one is really that antisalt.

i like things more vinegary, saltier, garlicy, peppery, hot saucier than most. i have a hard time cooking for people.

I read this as "I once made a dessert and used staples instead of sugar" and couldn't fathom how you wouldn't notice the difference.

I don't know of many marinades that don't involve salt.

OK, I totally made that up, but it sounds so real, even I'm convinced.

Also, "juicy and tender" is kinda nasty and makes we want to eat granola.

-- The quality of commercially available food (in the States, at least) has steadily gone downhill over the years, largely as a function of privileging cost and convenience over, well, quality.

-- Manufacturers have compensated for the poor quality of produce and meats, for the harsh way in which foods are processed, etc., etc., by adding massive amounts of things like salt, corn syrup, fat, and so on to their foods. These are things that both appeal to human palates on an instinctive, chemical level, and that have a pronounced masking effect (particularly salt). By adopting some of the instinct-level signifiers of nutritiveness, they compensate for their foods' lack of nutritiveness. Part of what motivates manufacturers here is greed, and willingness to prey on our weaknesses, but part of it is simply the nature of processed food (salted foods keep better, after all, than fresh vegetables or organic meat).

-- The decline in quality of mainstream food supply has had physical and mental health consequences for a huge number of Americans. (If you doubt me, consult any number of sources about, for instance, the relationship between malnutrition and socioeconomic depression in the ghetto.)

-- No matter how strong the theoretical (i.e. health/economical) argument against processed food is, the more compelling one is likely to be the consumer's subjective experience of food grown or prepared with care, should (s)he get the opportunity to have some. (i.e. "You mean oranges can taste like this?") Not everyone will prefer the "real" food, but many will. And, the consensus of most [if not all] sources is that their health will also benefit.

-- A lot of this, however, takes a good deal of re-learning on the part of the consumer. If you're used to massive doses of salts and sweets and fats, then food that doesn't use that stuff will seem anemic by comparison (to say nothing of the mood/glucose effects of something like corn syrup). Eating a lot of super-salty, super-sweet food is a little like constantly wearing heavy perfume or being a smoker: for many people, it dulls their senses, and means that only the strongest stimuli have any effect.

-- The more people come to grips with this, and begin demanding better-quality food, the more manufacturers and distributors will be compelled to carry such food, and to do business with sources like organic farms that are able to provide it (witness the recent Wal-Mart expansion on organic food). At the very least, they'll start offering alternatives like a Campbell's Chicken Soup that doesn't have 2500mg sodium per can, for instance.

-- As with anything, people who've ditched, or are in the process of ditching, the processed-food lifestyle can have the grating zeal of the newly converted. Plus, maybe they have loved ones who struggle with their weight, or their blood pressure, or their diabetes, and who have a really hard time resisting the temptation of processed foods, with its mainline-to-the-vein pleasure.

-- So, when they see you salting food that you haven't even tasted yet, they might assume that you're still firmly in the throes of "processed-food values", and think to themselves, "Aha, this is one of those fuckers that would love to see the world's food supply reduced to a glob of fat, salt and sugar on a plate! What ignorance, what arrogance! They can't tell the difference between what's real and what's fake! It's because of them that everything in the supermarket has ten pounds of salt in it! Their existence helps to fuck the world up for the rest of us! They're the kind of people that talk loud and say 'You go, girl' and drive SUVs and IHATEYOUIHATEYOUSTABSTABSTAB"

And you know, a little dash after tasting is one thing, but whenever I see someone piling salt onto a dish, I do tend to think less of them. So when I see someone salting food they haven't even tasted yet (unless it's French fries, or something like a fried egg, i.e. something so standardized as to really be a special case), especially if they're under fifty, I do tend to think that they're the kind of people who are into things like scented toilet paper and "Support Our Troops" stickers.

YES. This is the point I was trying to make vis a vis the majority of salt-pouring-on post-cooking is little more than a salt addiction but apparently THIS MAKES YOU CRAZY IF YOU THINK THIS.

also OTM upthread, who the fuck bundles up without knowing what the weather is outside? I did that this morning, first time this week I did not stick an arm out the door to check the temp, and lo and behold it's 60 fucking degrees out and I've got on a sweater and a winter coat.

re: salting meat, if you are just salting/peppering you do that very soon before cooking, but obviously before cooking. But if you do it like more than 5 minutes before cooking you're gonna get a nasty tough piece of meat because the salt will leech out too much juice.

I have read conflicting things on the salt meat issue, so I'd be happy to accept I'm wrong on it; its just what Ive seen in many chef shows/cookbooks.

Some things I love to add loads of salt to, like rice, mashed potatoes, lentil soup, tomatoes. Other things I prefer lemon juice on like salads and some veg.

This salt
in the saltcellar
I once saw in the salt mines.
I know
you won't
believe me,
but
it sings,
salt sings, the skin
of the salt mines
sings
with a mouth smothered
by the earth.
I shivered in those solitudes
when I heard
the voice of
the salt
in the desert.
Near Antofagasta
the nitrous
pampa
resounds:
a broken
voice,
a mournful
song.

In its caves
the salt moans, mountain
of buried light,
translucent cathedral,
crystal of the sea, oblivion
of the waves.

And then on every table
in the world,
salt,
we see your piquant
powder
sprinkling
vital light
upon
our food. Preserver
of the ancient
holds of ships,
discoverer
on
the high seas,
earliest
sailor
of the unknown, shifting
byways of the foam.
Dust of the sea, in you
the tongue receives a kiss
from ocean night:
taste imparts to every seasoned
dish your ocean essence;
the smallest,
miniature
wave from the saltcellar
reveals to us
more than domestic whiteness;
in it, we taste infinitude.

We do this all the time! People are amazed out our uncanny ability to make strong coffee that isn't as bitter as a racist.

xpost ok now you're just making things up.

http://www.memorygongs.com/bendercook.jpg

Dan, would I add this salt to the french press while the coffee steeps, or add it to the cup when I pour one?

I`M IN YR DYNING RUUM
SALTIN YR BOUILLABAISSE

This.

This is A+++++++

Nabisco is one salty dog, hurhur.

PS YOU ALL STILL SUCK AND ARE ALL WRONG

why don't you just eat the salt if you love it so much

M. White fought the good fight.

This thread was like a Pointless Meddling Assholism Convention, as proven by science:

Haha PROVEN BY SCIENCE: a writing break / trip to my local pizzeria has confirmed that 12 of 13 people -- that's 92% -- treat their slices to pepper flakes, oregano, and/or (yes) garlic salt BEFORE EVER TAKING A BITE. This despite the fact that the pizza/sauce presumably already contains garlic, salt, oregano, and possibly some sort of pepper-type spice. THE WORLD IS WITH ME.
-- nabiscothingy, Sunday, March 5, 2006 1:54 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark Link

Also everyone who was like "YOU'RE HORRIBLE (except I do this with eggs and potatoes")

The world is too much with you, late and soon,
You would put salt on a fucking balloon.

I bet balloons taste pretty shitty without salt.

Also: I lolled.

I think the only things I regularly pre-salt are poached eggs, home fries, and steamed vegetables. I actually did finally run into a place a while back where it backfired: they'd already salted the poached eggs! Which was incredibly stupid, because everyone else around was grumbling about how the eggs were too salty.

Chik-Fil-A has been ruining the daily ecstasy of waffle fries by oversalting them. I look semi-autistic hitting the each fry against the tray a couple times to remove the salt, but no way am I going to eat a sodium chlorfry.

God is talking to you.

The owners of Chick-Fil-A do not believe in ecstasy.

I can't imagine any sort of fry TOO salty. Unless it was coated in Elmer's glue and then packed in salt overnight....

hahaha I love this thread

I could never understand people who put salt on everything until I tried my wife's cooking.

...rimshot?

lol 2 years later:

Dan, would I add this salt to the french press while the coffee steeps, or add it to the cup when I pour one?

Add it to the french press with the grounds. You don't need very much at all; just a dash should be plenty.

i love salt, i have loads on everything. used to drive my mum crackers.

OK, for a second I was like, "What the hell are mum crackers?"

Wanted: a fresh batch of opinions on People Who Put More Salt On Their Food Before Even Tasting It. Because now, more than ever, salt matters.

salt is god's spice

Sometimes I add salt to the plate before adding food to it.

Ah, good times.

What kind of person salts another human being?

I do this with omelets, as most omelets are sadly lacking in the sodium necessary to make an omelet a Tasty Treat. Rarely have I been wrong in my Omelet Assumptions, but maybe I'm eating omelets from the Wrong Places.

P.S. Lots of black pepper is pretty much the most essential ever. As well.

I never ever ever salt food.

Black pepper tho - oh man. I have to grind that bastard at least 50 times to get my fix.

i'm getting better with salt, but potatoes and eggs of any kind require it.

black pepper with everything, everytime

Most people are too cautious when salting food while cooking. I suppose it's good to be careful, you don't want to ruin a whole dish. But really, just about everything could use a couple more tablespoons of salt.

otm salt improves flavour

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2003/sep/20/foodanddrink.shopping1

this is for ppl who have high blood pressure and stuff bc they eat too much salt

ok so uh this is an actual LSAT question (btw LSAT is an acronym for... well you guessed it)

http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae232/daggerlee/salt.jpg

Is it just me or is that the most unambiguous standardized test question ever?

Is every LSAT question like that? Maybe I should take it.

A?

it's the last question in the section which usually means it's a harder than average question and a lot of people get it wrong xp

was I right about the answer?

it depends, do you believe it is okay to salt your food before tasting it?

I don't see how it can be anything other than A.

xp: I don't, but that's because I don't like salt on everything.

i don't do it myself, but i don't have a problem with it personally

HI DERE, we should both go and take the LSATs. If this is a hard question (assuming we're right that the answer is A) we could be money!

it is A :)

if by money you mean you can go to law school so you can be in debt and unemployed

also that's def not a hard one!

ya even I got it right on the first try :) it was the last question of the last section so maybe the LSAT creators just wanted to give the test takers a gimmie

I took this quick quiz and got 4/4 right. Law school here I come! (but not really.)

http://www.petersons.com/testprep/quiz.asp?id=1229&sponsor=1&path=gr.pft.lsat

1. Buses 1, 2, and 3 make one trip each day, and they are the only ones that riders A, B, C, D, E, F, and G take to work.

Neither E nor G takes bus 1 on a day when B does.
G does not take bus 2 on a day when D does.
When A and F take the same bus, it is always bus 3.
C always takes bus 3.

Hate these kinds of questions, wtf is E and G's problem with B anyway.

yeah, that's the hardest section i think. they're fun to do in general but not when you have 40 seconds per question or whatever it is.

oh wait I missed out the LOLest part, the question + answer, which is ridiculously easy if you actually read the boring preamble.

Traveling together to work, B, C, and G could take which of the same buses on a given day?

(A) 1 only
(B) 2 only
(C) 3 only
(D) 2 and 3 only
(E) 1, 2, and 3

I think that company doesn't actually use real LSAT questions they just make up their own LSAT-style questions

yeah and their site gives you easy ones so you will be inspired to sign up for the test!

lololololol at that question

LSAT is an anagram for SALT. Important.

also, a wise man taught me to salt the plate first, before putting the food on it (esp. w/ pizza) so that you have even coverage. not naming names, but this man can stand up and take credit if he wants.

it was me

I love this thread

hahaha I love this thread

― Ca-hoot na na na oh oh (HI DERE), Tuesday, December 9, 2008 11:46 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

COOK: Tell that bitch she can salt her own goddamn fries.

If it's undersalted, then trying it first before salting will lead to one spoiled mouthful
If it's adequately salted, then salting before trying might result in a completely ruined meal.

So at first sight, it seems illogical. However, if you're the kind of salt-desensitised person for whom most food is served undersalted, then strategy #2 has the advantage of being the right one most of the time.

Basically, it's just a high-risk strategy. And the world wasn't built by people who always played it safe.

― Alba (Alba), Friday, March 3, 2006 12:40 PM (7 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I've found myself salting food more and more. I think I just really like the taste of salt more than I like the taste of food. My goal is never to enhance the flair of the food, I just want it to taste really salty.

I don't understand anyone who puts extra salt on things.

― tissp! (the impossible shortest specia), Friday, March 3, 2006 11:37 AM (7 years ago) Bookmark

"Extra"?

Flavor, not flair.

Who is tissp to determine what is "extra" for these people whose salting he or she doesn't understand? Outrageous.