Before I really learned to cook, I thought salt was something that belonged on the rim of my margarita.  I ignored it in sticky plastic shakers on restaurant tables, lazily omitted salt from recipes, and essentially feared it, as the health culture has trained us to do so to an unreasonable extent.

Not until culinary school did I begin to understand the magnificence of salt.  I was timid with its use, until I was beaten into submission by the stonefaced instructors who relentlessly critiqued my food: “It needs salt.”  I eventually realized the simplest truth that would forever make me a better cook:  Salt makes food taste better!

Salt does not necessarily add additional flavor to a dish.  This ingredient purely enhances the natural flavors of any food, be it steak, pasta sauce, or chocolate pudding.   It is a supporting player that creates harmony in a dish and gives its flavors extra oomph.  In essence, salt makes foods taste more like… well… themselves!  Sweets taste sweeter. Butter tastes butterier.  Peas taste more like peas.

So how does it work?  In its usual crystal form, salt is composed of sodium and chloride.  Once the salt dissolves in your mouth, the sodium actually increases the sensation of other flavors by stimulating tastebud activity, hightening the brain’s response to flavor. In addition, salt is well-known for suppressing the natural bitterness present in all foods.  In doing so, it allows for more pleasant flavors to excel.  Naturally bitter foods like asparagus and chocolate are made delicious by the addition of salt.

Make salt your partner when you cook.  Don’t use a shaker, and for goodness sake, put away your measuring spoons.  Use your fingers!  (If you are unsure about your ability to properly salt the food, start with tiny pinches and keep adding until you’re happy.  You’ll figure it out!)  Have a small bowl of kosher or sea salt next to you throughout the entire cooking process.  I insist you use kosher or sea salt because of its texture and flavor.  Also, the jagged crystals feel more substantial between your fingers, allowing you to better regulate the addition of salt during the cooking process.

The trick to properly seasoned food is to sprinkle salt throughout the entire cooking process; do not wait until the end.  And taste, taste, taste every step of the way.  Each time you add something to the pot, season it and taste it.  (No need to take a full bite, just a tiny taste.)  You’ll find that flavors will develop more intensely with the proper seasoning, and the finished product will taste better.  Caution:  If you intend to reduce a soup or sauce, or allow some of the liquid to evaporate while cooking, do not add as much salt.

If you can taste the salt in a dish, you’ve overdone it.  Don’t panic, however; there are ways to correct your mistake. Adding dairy such as cream or unsalted butter to a dish counterbalances salt quite well.  Vinegar and brown sugar can also do the trick.  If you have oversalted a soup or sauce, add a raw quartered potato, simmer for ten minutes, and discard it.  The potato will have absorbed some of the salt.

So go and get yourself the right kind of salt, and start properly seasoning the foods you cook.  Iconic American chef Thomas Keller insists that proper use of salt is the most essential skill in his kitchens. I insist that it is the most essential skill in yours, as well.

Tags: Food & wine, life after 50, life over 50, Women over 50

This entry was posted by Joanna Ward on July 9, 2011 at 12:59 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Food & Wine by Joanna Ward 2 Comments