To wonder why no one seasons food anymore

If I was cooking a nice steak, then yeah. I would only add salt and pepper because they bring out the flavour of the meat and that's what I want to taste. If I'm doing a roast chicken, I'd likely put a lot of other herbs with it.

Are there really so many people literally only putting salt and pepper on their meat?

We don't even have salt and pepper in the house lol. I do add other herbs and spices sometimes though, or cook in things like garlic butter.

My mum used to oversalt boiled veg to the point I stopped eating it so she cooked without and adds after . I also had a thing about it being bad for you.
For the past 25 years I've not added salt to boiled veg or pasta but I do season meat, roast potatoes etc etc without even questioning it
It's the boiled stuff I feel I can taste it
I have recently started putting a bit in pasta as I know you should but it's probably half what a normal person does

Salt is a flavour enhancer if used in the right quantity. It doesn't make a roast chicken, to use an example from a PP, taste salty unless you use too much. It makes the chicken itself taste more 'chicken-y'

Forgetting salt for a minute. Are there really so many people literally only putting salt and pepper on their meat?

Yuck. There's a million and one spices and herbs available to make your food taste good. Salt is the least of your problems

I do, too. Covid ruined my sense of taste.

If I roast a chicken then I want it to taste of chicken, not salt and pepper.

DH forgot to put salt and pepper on the roast today and it was pretty dull. We don’t always season with salt and pepper, we use other herb and spices but sometimes it’s nice to have the simplicity of slat and pepper. I do probably over add black pepper to everything though, I think my taste buds have adapted to that.

During my induction I did add salt to the very over-boiled vegetables at hospital, the first time I’ve had salt on my veg since I had a say in it. I really craved and had them far saltier than I’ve ever able to tolerate before. I ended up being sick throughout labour so perhaps my body knew it needed to get some salt in me before everything left me.

I add salt on doctor's orders. DD and I both have very low blood pressure and we have both been advised by various doctors to eat lots of salt. So it's not always bad for health. It's only bad for adults if it gives you high blood pressure or if you already have high blood pressure.

I don't add any salt to my food unless it's chips.

Another issue is that taste buds age past 60 - so many older relatives favour stronger dishes and more salt with meals - so younger relatives are probably cooking for their taste buds.

I did too

Dd's rheumatologist advised she doesn't get enough salt. We don't eat processed foods and we never really add it to many things though I season with lots of other ways. He even suggested she put half a spoon in her morning hot drink. He said we swing too far the other way which is fine for us, but not for DD with an underlying condition.

We've just stopped adding salt because DH had a heart scare. It was quite difficult at first but now we're really used to it. As others have said lots of spices and herbs add much more flavour.

I've never used a lot of salt and I don't think my mum did either. We've cut down to almost none on medical advice as DH and I both have high blood pressure.

I hardly add salt to anything now when cooking, I feel scrambled eggs, white sauce and mashed potatoes need it. Tonight I'm cooking a chicken. I'll put some semi-salted butter on it, and pepper, thyme and tarragon. I won't salt anything else but might add a tiny pinch to my plate. DH adds a non-salted mixed herb/spice seasoning or low-salt (which I don't use because for some reason my mouth tastes of salt for hours afterwards).

I've found I've got used to almost no salt pretty quickly. If we eat out I sometimes find things too salty!

I think people are more aware these days that too much (which is not much) is bad for you.

I love salt, always have done and put it in a lot of my food. Didn't used to like peppert hat much but have started seasoning things with it more recently, and certainly of I'm doing a roast chicken I will usually cover the chicken with a rubbing of butter first and then lots of fresh cracked pepper/salt over the chicken and I find both the meat comes out tasting lovely and it adds a nice flavour to the gravy made from the juices of the meat too.

First time I made a roast chicken dinner I didn't think it needed it, but the difference between with and without seasoning I find is huge! Always make sure I season my Yorkshire pudding batter with a bit of salt and pepper too.

With regards to the health aspects of salt, my blood pressure is always fine and I've had to had a few blood tests over the past few years and my salt/sodium levels in my blood and my kidney function has always been fine.

I season my food. I'm a bit like Cruella De Ville with the pepper grinder.

Is kosher salt saltier? How would that work? Surely all salt is 100% salt?

I do think that large grains, added at the table rather than when cooking, can give you a lovely little mouth-burst of saltiness and therefore more bang for your buck.

I rarely add salt to cooking for health reasons, but when I watch TV chefs I'm amazed at what they call a 'pinch' of salt or a 'knob' of butter.

They chuck in about a heaped tsp of salt and a quarter of a pack of butter sometimes...no wonder it tastes good!

I use less than my parents, don’t like too much spice for one. I have noticed that quite a few of my younger relatives don’t use any salt or pepper when cooking & not much in the way of herbs & spices. I often find their meals bland.

@mynameiscalypso, yes, that's my understanding too - it is processed foods, on the whole, that are the source of our excessive salt consumption, rarely the salt that we add when cooking. And manufacturers have got a bit better that they used to be about not relying too much on salt as a cheap flavour strategy (only because they were made to reduce it though).

I get quite a lot of cramp and sometimes think I don't eat enough salt??

I don’t believe that anyone of any age is this naive and would go to the effort to start a thread on it.

It’s salt. Just salt 😂

Duh.

DS took hot sauce on cub and scout camp!

Sorry ignore misread,