# Tell me again why it's rude to salt food before you taste it **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 22, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861 "2005-12-22T21:15:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861/21 "2005-12-23T12:29:17Z")
> [@Lama Pacos](#): > > …there are people who eat corn on the cob _without_ salt? I do. I don’t like really salty food and find that the salt added during cooking is sufficient. When I cook, I use the minimum salt required for the recipe and season meats with little, if any, salt. I just use garlic and onion powder and a little pepper. (Since chicken is blander, I will use a little seasoned salt.) My blood pressure also tends to be fairly low. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861/22 "2005-12-23T13:14:00Z")
I don’t know if this is a general rule for French cooks, but I know a French restaurant where they don’t put salt and pepper on the tables, and are said to be offended if you ask for them. The implication being that their cooking is perfect and doesn’t require additional seasoning. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861/23 "2005-12-23T13:19:04Z")
There was one particularly hilarious story in the UK a few years back where a Michelin-starred chef threw a couple out of his restaurant and chased them down the road with a cleaver - because the guy asked for some ketchup. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861/24 "2005-12-23T15:43:13Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > It’s like a having a ship’s helm attached to my crotch. Pardon? 😉 I just watched season one of _Chef!_ last night, and one episode featured Gareth going absolutely ballistic on a customer who tried to salt his food before tasting it. Hilarious. Re-seasoning a dish without tasting it first is silly. Unless you are Miss Cleo, how the hell do you know what it needs before you even try it?!? Hell yes I would take it as an insult, and think that the salter is an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![wonder9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c57346/32.png) [@wonder9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonder9)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861/25 "2005-12-23T15:49:24Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Michaela does this all the time. Adds salt and pepper to just about everything. Sheesh. Nine years old and she’s got a palate like she’s been smoking for aboiut twenty-five of 'em. > > It’s like a having a ship’s helm attached to my crotch. 😕😕 ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861/26 "2005-12-23T16:03:56Z")
Has anyone ever tried an experiment in which, when one doesn’t want to eat a particular dish, poisoning it with WAY too much salt when dining with Ms. Saltfirst Tastesecond? “Oh, really? Then why’d you add salt to it?” ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861/27 "2005-12-23T16:58:20Z")
> [@wonder9](#): > > 😕😕 Well, it’s dr- Huh. I just realized a third party can’t deliver the punchline right. Sorry. You’ll have to wait for kaylasdad to come back. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861/28 "2005-12-23T16:58:33Z")
Confidential to **EJsGirl** and **wonder9** : It drives me nuts. Arrr. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861/29 "2005-12-23T18:43:46Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Michaela does this all the time. Adds salt and pepper to just about everything. Sheesh. Nine years old and she’s got a palate like she’s been smoking for aboiut twenty-five of 'em. > > It’s like a having a ship’s helm attached to my crotch. This is beyond creepy, talking about a smoking nine-year old and having something massive attached to your crotch. I wish I’d never read this post. I think I’m going to have nightmares. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861/30 "2005-12-23T19:31:12Z")
> [@edwino](#): > > [urban legend, I’m sure] > Thomas Edison used to take potential job candidates out to lunch during their job interviews. If they salted their food before tasting it, he would not hire them. This, he said, was because they did not know how to conduct a controlled experiment. > [/urban legend, I’m sure] Not an urban legend – Edison also didn’t believe in bathing. He had major body odor all the time. He was not exactly wise in all things. If true, the urban legend is just another example of Edison’s crankiness, not his brilliance. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861/31 "2005-12-24T03:17:19Z")
Aren’t there some things though that you usually salt that wouldn’t be salted while cooking? I’m thinking french fries, or corn on the cob. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861/32 "2005-12-24T03:46:03Z")
It is not ordinarily an insult to salf food before eating it. People who are that desperate to be insulted will doubtless be insulted a lot in their lives. It is however dumb to routinely salt everything you eat before tasting it. Frex, it’s highly unlikely that any human being is going to want extra salt on his country ham. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2005, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861/33 "2005-12-24T06:30:22Z")
Re: corn on the cob… > [@MsRobyn](#): > > I don’t like really salty food and find that the salt added during cooking is sufficient. ? When do you add salt to cooking corn on the cob? I thought it was just corn and water? ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2005, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861/34 "2005-12-24T06:33:10Z")
On posting, I see **Guin** would share my confusion… To me, it’s sort of like saying pasta is salty because some people add salt to the cooking water (which is optional to begin with). Do you NEED to salt the cooking water for corn? ---
**Author:** ![Stentor\_2.5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@Stentor\_2.5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stentor_2.5)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2005, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861/35 "2005-12-24T11:31:47Z")
I ususally don’t bother adding salt, and just let people salt to their own preference. Is there anything wrong with doing this? ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861/36 "2005-12-24T16:19:08Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Confidential to **EJsGirl** and **wonder9** : > > It drives me nuts. > > Arrr. Ohhhh. I get it. I wonder why I didn’t at first, considering that’s my favorite joke. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-again-why-its-rude-to-salt-food-before-you-taste-it/336861.md?page=1)