Worldwide, why are salt and pepper used to season our food? I could postulate a reason for salt (savory and non-savory foods) based on evolution, but I would probably be wrong. Why are salt and, particularly, pepper used to season almost everything we eat?
Tastes good.
Salt is a part of our diet, so its intake is required. But most of our foods nowadays come with all the salt that was required so it’s possible that either:
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That the reasoning stems from our instinctual tendancy to sweet and salt as children, rather than sour and bitter
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That when foods were preserved in salt, people grew accustomed to the taste, fed it to the children who became accustomed and continued the tradition.
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Hi Opal!
Salt and pepper were both immensely important in the spice trade, with pepper being used to pay ransoms and fines. Europeans were gaga over the stuff, as were others. It eventually went from being a spice of kings to being an everyday condiment, and commonplace on the table.
Salt, of course, has been used for centuries as a preservative and curative both in the home and aboard ship. Its use today is much less, except in countries such as Portugal, where salted cod (bacalhau) is still a dietary staple.
Culturally, the reasons for their ubiquity in American culture is that once upon a time salt and pepper - compared to all the other spices and enhancers - were relatively cheap, relatively easy to procure, relatively palatable in large doses, relatively insensitive to small variations in the amount used, and relatively easy to keep for long periods.
Take this with a grain of salt 
but on the History Channel, I heard that salt is because it is a preservative, and pepper because it’s strong and it hid the taste of bad meats, grains, etc.
I think the biggie question is why s&p have remained on the table for the last 100 years.
I never use table salt personally–not because I’m worried about the sodium, but I just don’t particularly like the taste of extra salt. But many people do, and it’s one of the 5 or so basic tastes, so I think salt is here to stay.
Exapno made some great points about pepper: it’s extremely versatile, flavorful but not skewed in any particular direction (compare to nutmeg!). It is hard to ruin a dish by putting to much pepper on it or in it (compare to nutmeg!).
I also recommend putting alspice or cloves in the pepper mill with the pepper; adds a new dimension and still goes with a lot foods. Or you could try sichuan pepper: goes great with broccoli.
(I know you are a guest and cannot search the message board, but you can still search the column archises here.
You know what, I did search the “archives” and got no results for salt and pepper! I guess as a guest I’m at a disadvantage … :rolleyes: Still doesn’t answer my OP …
Umm, did you click the link flight helpfully provided? It is a column by Cecil (the Master) explaining why salt and pepper are the standard table condiments/spices, which seems to me to exactly answer your OP.
Read it three times now. Sorry, doesn’t answer why …
Well, salt is there because it is a necessary component of our diets. Without it, we die. Simple enough. Pepper is there because of all the spices, it is the most versatile. I’m afraid to say Cecil was wrong about it becoming popular to disguise the taste of rotting meat. Pepper was much too expensive to waste by using it in such a manner. Poor folk couldn’t afford it; rich folk had fresh meat. Medicinally, pepper:
Attributed Medicinal Properties
Stomachic; carminative; aromatic stimulant; antibacterial; diaphoretic. Stimulates the taste-buds causing reflex stimulation of gastric secretions, improving digestion and treating gastro-intestinal upsets and flatulence. Pepper calms nausea and raises body temperature, making it valuable for treating fevers and chills.
And there you go. 