It seems that every time someone seasons something on a cooking show, they reach into a bowl of salt and dump a handful of the stuff onto the food. I’ve noticed it a lot recently - the host will say “a little salt”, and then shower the food with salt.
Are they really suggesting we use that much salt to season our asparagus before roasting it? Because it seems to me that it’s an excessive amount. Is this for visual appeal, because they’re on TV and it looks nicer that way?
I think what they are doing is taking a recipe instruction that says use a teaspoon of salt and just guessing at that amount using their fingers. It doesn’t usually look excessive to me, just imprecise.
They’re also likely using Kosher Salt, which has larger grains and is easier to grip. It looks like a WHOLE LOT OF SALT but it comes out tasting just fine. Also, if you don’t have a bowl of salt, do so. I saw it on TV, figured it was worth a shot and I haven’t gone back. It’s just so much better to reach in and grab a little pinch rather than try to shake it out or pour it into my hand from the box.
I’ve heard it can take as long as 15 years to master cooking with salt. And I’m the Duke of Oil, so I oughtta know!
Trust me, that much salt is better. Salt makes everything taste better. Not salty (though if you use too much salt, it will be salty,) but actually better. Up until recently, we always seemed to be told “less salt!” and “salt bad!” so we got used to a very tiny sprinkling, so more than that seems excessive, even though it’s not. And unless you have a pre-existing condition like renal problems, or hypertension, then you aren’t at any health risk from eating a little more salt, assuming you of course get a little more water to go along with it.
You need to try it before you knock it. I used to think like you, then one day, I just said, “fuck it. I’m putting that much salt on my steak,” and BAM!
When I really started WAY more salt than I had every used before – in sauces, soups, on meat, fish, vegetables – that’s when my dishes really started to come alive.
I have one friend who is a trained chef. She uses an astounding amount of salt when she cooks.
It is a remarkable spice, and should be used liberally.
If you saw the amount of salt that went into anything you think is delicious. . .whether it’s chef’s specialty from a local place, or a big mac, Arby’s Curly Fries, hot pocket, whatever. . .you’d be amazed. And, it’s not a coincidence.
I got nuthin’ here…
My wife brought up the very subject of salt on food today as we drove to work. Her mother was (is) a lousy cook, and she never used spices of any kind. So my wife grew up thinking that all food tasted bland, and she never learned to cook. Then she married me. I use salt and ground pepper on a lot of things. All of a sudden, she began to like foods that she used to avoid. It improves many vegetables immeasurably, which is the point she made today. She used to hate them, but then tried them with maybe butter, and salt, and now she loves them. Now she even likes salt on Granny Smith apples.
I can’t imagine steak without liberal salt. It would just be bland, hot meat. And since we’ve been watching all those food porn shows, we have started to use kosher salt, a pinch at a time. I find it to taste better than the other kind. It seems less bitter, and makes food taste even better. It’s necessary in stews and soups and spaghetti sauces. Wouldn’t want to go without it!
Also all salt isn’t the same. Some salt is more saltier than other salts.
Kosher Salt isn’t nearly as salty as Sea Salt, which isn’t nearly as salty as Table Salt.
What you need, my dear, is a Salt Pig. I have this one. The awesome thing is that you can take a pinch, or it’s really easy to take a measuring spoon, or it has its own little spoon too. And it keeps it from getting damp or whatever. Also, it is very cute and has a curly tail.
Brilliant in both design and name. Does it care of you put bacon salt in it? 
That would have to be some sort of cannibalism, and I can’t recommend it. 
But if you put kosher salt in a Salt Pig, would it create a space-time singularity?
Man, I’m just the opposite. I see those TV cooks take a little bitty pinch of salt and put it on a dish, and I think “that’s not nearly enough salt”.
Oh, I doubt it. Here, let me tr
What a lot of people don’t realize is that packaged premade food and restaurant food has loads and loads of salt. Even foods that you don’t expect to be salty will contain salt, often juuuust below the perceptable level.
Salt just makes everything taste better. Even ice cream or cookies or cakes.
With homemade food, people often reach for the salt shaker and add salt to taste. But if you took the amount of salt everyone added to their individual servings, and threw that amount into the dish while it was still on the stove, it would seem like a LOT of salt. Restaurant food and packaged food usually already has that large amount of salt added.
I have been using Kosher salt for over a year now and prefer it hands down to table salt. Table salt to me has a chemical and sharp taste, while the Kosher salt seems to simply add flavor. Plus it’s really hard to oversalt something with Kosher because you need like 3x as much versus the table variety.
I would like to try those “artisan” salts like Grey Salt or Hawaiian Salt, etc, but they are so expensive…and I wonder how much of a difference they really make.
I can’t speak to Hawaiian salt, but gray salt really is that good and it really is worth the money. And I say that as a confirmed cheapskate. Gray salt has a lot more minerals that give a bigger, rounder, fuller flavor to foods. It’s the only salt I will eat by itself. I find that a lot of my ok recipes get balanced out with gray salt and suddenly become very very delicious. I get it at World Market for…well, not cheap, but a lot cheaper than anywhere else. Mmm…gray.
It’s my understanding that this is because table salt is usually iodized (originally to combat thyroidism in people who don’t eat a lot of seafood). I, too, am a recent convert to kosher salt for the same reason: it tastes better.
That explains why the galleys are so close to the engine room on Romulan ships!