# On the omnipresence of food-snobbery in everyday recipes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [December 22, 2023, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007 "2023-12-22T20:28:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/81 "2023-12-23T15:49:17Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I beg to differ. I don’t know that you do differ. Sure, by itself an EVOO can taste better–but that’s not what I was talking about. If your recipe starts with sauteing onions, and goes on to be a marinara or a curry or something else with strong flavors, it’s almost certain that by the end nobody will be able to tell whether you sauteed those onions in EVOO or plain vegetable oil. Do you disagree? That’s what I’m talking about when I say “Too often it shows up in a recipe not because it improves the food.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/82 "2023-12-23T16:07:24Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Note that a tablespoon of Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt weighs about 10 grams, whereas a tablespoon of table salt weighs about 19 grams. If you use a tablespoon of table salt in a recipe developed with Diamond kosher, your result will be almost twice as salty. So I did my own test right now using Morton Kosher salt (which is what I have available) and Morton table salt. I did four trials on each, using the same measuring tablespoon and leveling off with the back edge of a knife. I got an average of 16.2g for the kosher salt and 18.8g for the table salt. That’s a 16% difference. But I do know Diamond Kosher salt is much coarser. My finding for the table salt matches your numbers. The backs of the boxes suggest a 25% difference (Kosher says 1.2g per 1/4 tsp; table says 1.5g per 1/4 tsp.) We might get a better true number if we used larger quantities, but this is supposed to reflect reality of using recipe measurements. The thing is, the two amounts are in the range of normal cooking error. Even when I was trying to precisely measure out 1 Tbsp using my tools, there was a difference of my lowest-to-highest measurements in each trial of about 1 g (0.95g for the Kosher; 1.04g for the table salt). That said, I take salt measurements in recipe with a, um, what’s a good idiom? I take them as a ballpark figure. Taste as you go, use your own judgment, and use the recipe’s salt content as a guide, not some laboratory measurement. Salt content _is_ important, and when you’re baking and making stuff like sausages, it is helpful to know your levels (I don’t weigh salt when I bake – I weigh everything else – but when I make sausages, I weigh and shoot for 2% most of the time. Truth be told, it’s edible everywhere from at least the 1.5%-3% range, so there’s plenty of room for slop. But if you want absolute consistency, weigh it.) But for most day-to-day recipes, don’t sweat it. Most recipes can be adjusted at the end, as long as you don’t overdo it, so I typically just go easy on the salt a bit and adjust it at the end if need be, or at the table. My wife likes at least 25% more salt in her meals than I do, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/83 "2023-12-23T16:09:00Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > If your recipe starts with sauteing onions, and goes on to be a marinara or a curry or something else with strong flavors, it’s almost certain that by the end nobody will be able to tell whether you sauteed those onions in EVOO or plain vegetable oil. Do you disagree? I’d disagree, it’s a very strong flavor, I would say a you’d still get a hint of it from tomato sauce. For a curry it’s probably the wrong choice not because you can’t taste it (probably you can’t unless you make a bland ass curry 😉 ) But because it burns at a lower temperature so if (as you should) you fry your spices before putting in the onions then there is a good chance of burning the oil and ruining the curry Fancy salt on the hand, no chance. If you are just dissolving it in the sauce there is zero chance of telling if you used the fanciest kosher salt or the cheapest generic table salt ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/84 "2023-12-23T16:10:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That said, I take salt measurements in recipe with a, um, what’s a good idiom? I take them as a ballpark figure. Taste as you go, use your own judgment, and use the recipe’s salt content as a guide, not some laboratory measurement. > > Salt content _is_ important, and when you’re baking and making stuff like sausages, it is helpful to know your levels (I don’t weigh salt when I bake – I weigh everything else – but when I make sausages, I weigh and shoot for 2% most of the time. Truth be told, it’s edible everywhere from at least the 1.5%-3% range, so there’s plenty of room for slop. But if you want absolute consistency, weigh it.) But for most day-to-day recipes, don’t sweat it. Most recipes can be adjusted at the end, as long as you don’t overdo it, so I typically just go easy on the salt a bit and adjust it at the end if need be, or at the table. My wife likes at least 25% more salt in her meals than I do, for instance. This is all the relevant information necessary on the subject of salting food for flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/85 "2023-12-23T16:17:13Z")
Yes, I had just finished breakfast and was going to haul out the gram scale. And now that we have “settled” the saltiness thing, perhaps we can address “Picky eaters are a species of food snob.” Dan ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/86 "2023-12-23T17:22:14Z")
Salt is salt; but as mentioned before, texture matters for some things. Eggs, hash browns, burgers? Table salt. Caprese salad? Kosher salt. I do use kosher salt where it will dissolve and not have any texture. Why? Because I mostly don’t measure. I find I can control the amount of salt in such cases by grabbing pinches of kosher salt, and I’ve done it enough to gauge how much is enough. I can’t do that with table salt. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/87 "2023-12-23T17:25:42Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Damnit, I knew making a careless blanket statement about cheddar cheese was basically putting up the Qadgop signal. That’s what happens when one’s father was raised in a converted cheese factory. And you think _your_ grandparents’ home smelled funny. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/88 "2023-12-23T17:30:21Z")
Could be worse. They could have smelled of elderberries. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/89 "2023-12-23T18:08:09Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Pink salt won’t help at all for discouraging ghosts and curses. I know I tried it. The salt to look for is Fleur de Sol. It drys into flakes on the top of the salt ponds and they scoop it off carefully. Each piece is like a large snowflake that just melts on your tongue. > **[Fleur de sel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleur_de_sel)** > > Fleur de sel ("flower of salt" in French; .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}French pronunciation: \[flœʁ də sɛl\]) or flor de sal (also "flower of salt" in Portuguese, Spanish and Catalan) is a salt that forms as a thin, delicate crust on the surface of seawater as it evaporates. Fleur de sel has been collected since ancient times (it ... ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/90 "2023-12-23T18:45:21Z")
Umm. I own a salt pond. I’m not gonna be out there harvesting salt flakes. I’m afraid it wouldn’t be healthy or tasty at all. Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/91 "2023-12-23T18:53:10Z")
I have a few fancy salts and find the benefits claimed are often exaggerated, as per this thread. No doubt there are places it makes a big difference, say salty pastry or chocolate. But it doesn’t matter what powers your sauce or soup. I am fairly loyal to a few brands, but “Each grain, mined by Valerian elves only on particularly moist moonlit nights, recalls choirs of angels singing of pastry and passion…” No. Neither have I found “each grain is like a delicate snowflake… unique and unctuous, melting on your tongue to transform it into a reservoir of light and goodness”… ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/92 "2023-12-23T19:16:09Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Salt is salt If we really look into it, there are potassium salts, sodium salts, magnesium salts… I can _theoretically_ imagine that mixtures of sufficiently different compositions might impart different flavours. The other day I grabbed from the shelf some of that MSG… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/93 "2023-12-23T20:41:07Z")
Kala namak, “black salt” (though the crystals are actually pink), is significantly different from table salt that I would not substitute one for the other. It is quite eggy (sulfurous.) It’s a defining feature of many South Asian snacks, as it’s a key part of many chaat masalas, and its presence is obvious and would not be welcome in quantity in a lot of dishes. It’s a bit like using filtered water vs well water: ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/94 "2023-12-23T20:54:55Z")
One absolute truth with olive oil is that you should never, ever use “light olive oil”. That doesn’t mean that it’s lower in Calories: That’s impossible, since all oils have the same Calorie content. What it means is that it’s olive oil that’s been carefully treated to remove all of the flavor, to try to appeal to bland American tastes. While, granted, there are some dishes where you don’t want olive oil flavor, in those cases you should just be using canola or sunflower or something else cheap. And if you do want olive oil flavor, you won’t get it from the light stuff. All light olive oil is is a waste of money. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/95 "2023-12-23T21:09:56Z")
True. I mean, I think everyone in this thread pretty much agrees on the following: the size of the grains does not make a difference in the food when dissolved. The size of the grains can make a difference when it is on top of the food when you eat it; for example, pretzel salt vs table salt on pretzels. Popcorn salt vs even kosher salt on popcorn. Fleur de sel vs pretzel salt on buttered bread. We do the same thing with sugar and the various grain sizes from powdered to rock. The size of the grains makes a difference when measuring, which may or may not be a big deal. Beyond that, yes, there are some salts where they impart additional flavors. There are smoked salts; there’s the kala namak I mentioned; and I’m sure there’s more I’m unaware of. Those would be important to note, as what composition they have beyond sodium chloride may make a difference in the flavor of the final product. Or it may not make any difference at all. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/96 "2023-12-23T21:11:18Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Margarine is ok. I swear Country crock is good shit. If you really love butter, as I do, no. Just no. I’ve never tasted a margarine that was even half as good as real butter. I think I’ve told this story before, but when I was three or four I told my grandmother that I loved the jam she put on my toast. Turns out it was not the jam I loved…it was the butter. Once I left home and bought my own groceries, I never bought margarine again. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/97 "2023-12-23T21:16:21Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Once I left home and bought my own groceries, I never bought margarine again. I would only buy it when making Buffalo wings myself, as I’ve read the original recipe used margarine. That was my one exception to butter. It does emulsify better with margarine. But I’ve just started using some mustard in my sauce, which helps the emulsification along when using butter and just stuck with it. Otherwise, I’d have all this leftover margarine (or Country Crock or I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter) that nobody in my house would eat. I’ll confess, I don’t _mind_ CC or ICBINB if there’s nothing else around. Regular margarine as a bread topping, though, is just a non-starter. That I will not concede. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/98 "2023-12-23T21:21:27Z")
Oh. I’ve had bad margarines. I’ve had bad butter. I can’t think of the name of it now, but there’s a butter that tastes rancid the minute you open it. I thought well, I must’ve gotten a bad one. Tried it again. Checking for recent date before buying. Nope, rancid. Purports to be an authentic butter flavor. No, peeps it tastes like dirty cow barn and old age. I realize butter is the go-to for baking and cooking. But my biscuit wants Country crock with all its artificial flavored goodness. Yep. Gotta have it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/99 "2023-12-23T21:57:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > it’s olive oil that’s been carefully treated to remove all of the flavor, to try to appeal to bland American tastes. Ew! My ‘everyday oil’ is [Trader Giotto’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil](https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/extra-virgin-olive-oil-liter-001465). If we want _good_ oil (e.g. for Caprese salads or for dipping bread) we use [California Olive Ranch Arbequina](https://www.californiaoliveranch.com/products/arbequina/41079566762168) Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Corn oil for frying Mexican food, sesame oil for Asian food, and canola oil for baking or whatever (it’s what we use least). As for butter and margarine: Salted or unsalted butter as an ingredient, Smart Balance Omega-3 margarine for spreading grilled sandwiches, and frying eggs and potatoes. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2023, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/100 "2023-12-23T22:30:48Z")
For baking, saute, and all ordinary table use, I’m as big a butter snob as anyone else. But for white toast, really nothing beats I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter for some reason. I can easily believe it’s not butter, of course, but for that single application, somehow margarine is better. And every so often I’ll make Toll House Cookies with margarine, not because they’re better – they’re not – but because it makes them (literally) taste like Grandma Used To Make. eta: > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > But my biscuit wants Country crock with all its artificial flavored goodness. Yep. Gotta have it. I disagree in this instance – my own biscuits want butter, and boy do they get it – but I do understand you 100% in general on this _sort_ of thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007.md?page=6)