Billy Parisi in particular says to use a crazy amount of salt (to my mind) on almost every dish he prepares. I was told by my doctor to cut back on my sodium intake, (strange, because I don’t use a lot of salt so I became more aware of salt in dishes that I don’t prepare myself, canned soups or snacks) but Parisi is just insane in the quantities of salt he says are essential to almost every recipe. He heavily salts every protein dish beforehand, liberally salting every piece of meat, fish, chicken on all sides before he does anything and then adds salt to it during the cooking process as well. He usually comments that not adding salt is the #1 reason for food tasting too bland. When I’ve followed his instructions, I found the dish I made (salmon steak) to be way too salty, almost inedible.
Also Jacques Pepin. He starts out “Take a metric ton of salt, pour it in ze bowl wis a half-cup of flour…” Are these people trying to kill us or what?
Depends on what you want - a lot of youtube, and even professional chefs, use salt, butter, cream, etc. in quantities that light up $$$ for your cardiologist. Because salt and fat can add a ton of flavor to a dish. Those professionals are about making an exquisite flavor and gastronomical experience for you.
Now of course, there are farm to table, vegetarian, and other healthy/healthier styles out there, but again, if all you want is flavor… well. There you go. American fast and ready-to-go foods do the same, but generally for the opposite reason - add enough salt and fat and you won’t notice (or care) about the cheapest cost ingredients of everything else.
And, if such things are eaten rarely, it’s not too much of a big deal, especially (for salt) if you stay well hydrated. But most American’s are borderline dehydrated, and eat this sort of food far too often. If you’re reproducing these recipes at home, then what could be a better option (cooking whole meals from scratch) can end up being just as bad for you.
IMHO - the average American would be better taking a hard look at their food intake, in the same way that a diabetic like @Beckdawrek has to watch carefully what they eat, when, and be prepared for consequences. We’re far too incurious about what we eat, and many only care about the satiation and cost.
Well, he’s certainly all over my feed in Youtube. None of these guys are strictly Youtube chefs, but they have loads of recipes on line, and all have heavy thumbs on the salt container.
I used to work in a restaurant kitchen, actually., and I remember one cook telling me how cheap salt, and butter, and sugar were, and how much better they made food taste. But Parisi and Pepin are specifically talking to people cooking at home (I think that’s what Pepin calls his videos “Cooking at Home”) and I can’t trust them on the proportions as far as salt goes. I think most dishes taste just fine with zero salt.
Perfectly reasonable for you and I had a friend that would have absolutely agreed with you - he had a very low tolerance for saltiness in food. But I would never agree with either of you because I love salt. Everyone has a different palate - I used to have a friend who liberally salted their pizza slices, which made me goggle rudely the first time I saw them do it. I like salt, but not THAT much.
Every professional chef I’ve talked to ( which is literally just a couple, so take this with a grain of salt ) has opined that home cooks under-salt relative to restaurants, especially when it comes to proteins. It’s the number one issue (just ahead of not using enough fat) with not being able to replicate the flavor of restaurant food. But if you’re the sort of person who finds restaurant food generally too salty, that won’t be an issue for you.
So in summary - eat what you prefer . Just realize that some folks invited over for dinner may secretly find your cooking a little bland.
Well, that brings us back full circle then. People’s tastes vary, and it definitely seems that like sugar, the more you become accustomed too, the more you expect.
What my wife considers salty, I consider under-seasoned. But salt, sugar, and fat can improve a dish, and are reasonably cheap ways to do so.
If something is too salty, too sweet, or too fatty for you or your diet you shouldn’t be afraid to change the recipe, or to chose to follow chefs closer to your personal tastes rather than ones who are famous or popular (online or otherwise).
I mean, I have friends who dislike some of my favorite dishes because I tend to be capsicum forward, so when I’m cooking for them, I tone it way down. Tinkering with a recipe to meet your exact taste or those of guests is a key (and fun!) part of home cooking.
It was Thanksgiving many years ago. Walked into the kitchen to see my new Sister in Law adding a shit load of salt into the mashed potatoes, that is when I knew dinner would be awesome.
Regarding @Beckdawrek 's comment on salt shakers on the table …
Exactly. I’ve made a few recipes that have called for what I would consider to be unreal amounts of salt, sugar, etc. I tend not to follow the recipe amounts for such things. While I will include some of the ingredient, I likely won’t include all that the recipe states. I figure that if the dish is not salty enough when it comes time to eat it, I can add more from the shaker on the table.
To some extent. But only to some extent as cooking with salt imparts a different flavor/subtle level of seasoning than adding it after the fact because of the way it is absorbed into the cooking food.
Still, I think it is perfectly fine to do it that way. My mother was on a lower sodium diet for decades because it caused water retention. So on the rare occasions I cooked for her (or vice versa) like around a holiday, I cooked low sodium for her and added it afterwards for myself. Not ideal for my preferences, but it worked okay.
Been diabetic since 1981, had at least one nutritionist consult every third year most of those intervening years [I can literally give the canned diabetic nutrition speech from memory - last one had never seen anybody who was able to portion control by sight and hand feel =) ] and started a run in with cancer and surgery in 2016 [part of the reason I vanished for a couple years] and I amazed my oncologist - purely nutritionally I survived without electrolyte imbalance, anemia or any other issue - though it did leave me with a fucked up ability to eat, I can do a small solid food meal once per day, and other wise bariatric fusion meal replacement shake is my evening meal.
It is possible to eat a decent diet with no need for nutritional supplements, and without risking your cardiovascular system … if you read/watch ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” it explains why chefs add so much stuff we don’t tend to [the butter, my god, the butter ……….]
The issue is that what works culinarily and what the doctors recommend are two wildly different things. The doctors recommend no more than 2300 mg of sodium per day, or about a teaspoon/5 grams of salt, which is ludicrously small. Eat one properly salted steak, hamburger, or even chicken breast, and you’re looking at 1/3 to 1/2 of your daily sodium right there, not including sides, other meals, etc.
That said, there’s definitely a balance to be had, but most home cooks do err on the side of undersalting things.
Much of the trick to flavor, IMO, is in the quality of the basic ingredients.
Unfortunately, most of what’s in a standard grocery store (and some of what’s in a specialty store) doesn’t have much if any flavor. The fruits and vegetables are bred and managed for highest production by weight and for ability to ship long distances without visible damage, and harvested before full ripeness to improve shipping ability and storage length. The meat animals are also bred and fed for fast production, and with that aim allowed little or no exercise. The result is tasteless food (likely also with lower nutrition, but that’s a whole other subject.) So it all gets heavily dosed with salt, and often with other things, to make it taste like something.
Upper level chefs, however, ought to be able to get food produced with flavor in mind. Maybe they’re planning recipes under the assumption that their audience either can’t or won’t (if you’re not raising the stuff yourself and/or sourcing from the neighbors, it’s likely to be expensive.) Maybe they’re just so used to that much salt that nothing else tastes right to them; a great deal of that, for both salt and sugar, is what you’re used to.
) has opined that home cooks under-salt relative to restaurants, especially when it comes to proteins. It’s the number one issue (just ahead of not using enough fat) with not being able to replicate the flavor of restaurant food. But if you’re the sort of person who finds restaurant food generally too salty, that won’t be an issue for you.
. Just realize that some folks invited over for dinner may secretly find your cooking a little bland.