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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think putting salt on your food before you taste it is rude?

399 replies

KirjavaTheCat · 20/01/2015 09:51

FIL comes to stay every couple of months and this is a habit of his. I cook, I place the meal in front of everyone at the table and before we've all picked up our knives and forks he's shaking salt onto his food.

He hasn't tasted it, he doesn't know if the seasoning is to his taste or not, he just goes ahead and does it.

On Saturday I made everyone cheese and pepperoni omelettes for breakfast. As he went to pick up the salt I stopped him and said, 'you should try it first, pepperoni tends to be quite salty' so he tried it, and lo and behold he didn't want any.

He's wasted food before, declaring he couldn't eat anymore because it was a bit salty. After he'd shaken a load on before tasting it Angry

AIBU to find this really rude?

OP posts:
EatShitDerek · 21/01/2015 00:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AliceLidl · 21/01/2015 00:37

LimitedPeriod my Dad will be grateful to have a supporter. Grin

I've just remembered something I used to do when I was younger, can't remember if I actually liked it or just wanted to drive my mother crazy with it.

I used to eat a runny boiled egg by dipping pickled onions in it, until all the runny bits were gone, then scooping out the rest to finish with the fork I'd had the onions impaled on.

Whoever was talking about the camembert and cranberry sauce, I think you might have found the answer to the question.

Which is "it might not need the extra salt/pepper/cranberry sauce, but I want it because I like it" and that should be good enough for any fancy chef. Especially since you were paying for it.

I like pepper. You can't eat it straight from the mill so the only option is sticking some on top of other food. It's nice, it makes me happy.

I called in at a friend's house the other day. She made us all a cup of tea and then proceeded to dunk toast and christmas cake into her mug. I'm not sure why that's relevant to this thread, expect perhaps because she felt her toast and cake needed the added extra dunking of tea just because she likes them that way.

FightOrFlight · 21/01/2015 02:09

If OP's FIL ruins his dinner then he's the only one losing out. If he hasn't learned yet then he's a lost cause.

I used to salt first but after being told that it was rude I now make a conscious decision to taste it first. Every time I have had to add salt to the food. Every. Fucking. Time. That means I have wasted many, many initial mouthfuls of food that could have tasted good with salt but have just tasted bland. To be fair I am a leper smoker so I know that food usually needs an extra zing to it to compensate for my fried tastebuds.

When I was a kid my friend next door used to have salt and vinegar sandwiches for her lunch.

My 18 year old has salad cream with roast dinners.

Not my taste but not my dinner either.

BringMeTea · 21/01/2015 05:57

Not rude just stupid. Add salt by all means but coomon sense dictates you might taste it first.

merrymouse · 21/01/2015 06:14

I think I'd be more surprised than anything else.

Presumably your FIL is in his 50's or older - can't imagine being that age and not being concerned about the health aspects of having too much salt.

Do people salt everything - even things like pizza and curry?

WilburIsSomePig · 21/01/2015 06:45

Do people really care about this kind of stuff? I mean really?

I have loved this thread though. Grin

Original poster
KirjavaTheCat · 21/01/2015 06:59

I've decided that I'm being unreasonable, and will hence forth provide a flour shaker of salt at the table, just for FIL.

He can't help that he's an uncouth heathenistic autocondimentarian.

OP posts:
Thumbwitch · 21/01/2015 07:23

It's a plan Kirjava - but just make him eat it afterwards. Grin

GoodbyeToAllOfThat · 21/01/2015 08:53

I would absolutely say something to my children if they did this, but it's rude to correct an adult's table manners - particularly for such an inoffensive breach.

GoodbyeToAllOfThat · 21/01/2015 08:53

I agree it's uncouth.

WorraLiberty · 21/01/2015 09:05

Amazing how many people are still missing THE POINT-which is that FIL often OVERSALTS his food because of not tasting it first and then REFUSES TO EAT IT BECAUSE IT'S TOO SALTY.

The OP didn't say he 'often' over salts his food and then refuses to eat it.

She said he threw away a stew just before Christmas.

I think that's why most people are not focussing too much on it.

NobodyLivesHere · 21/01/2015 09:23

Maybe I'm weird, but when I cook for other people I want them to enjoy it. If that means putting salt/pepper/napalm on their food, it's all good with me.

invisiblecrown · 21/01/2015 09:27

I hate this thread. I went for dinner at my PILs last night, and didn't season my food in case she'd seen this.

TinklyLittleLaugh · 21/01/2015 09:47

It is a big health issue though isn't it? I mean if you are putting salt on your cheese on toast, your palate is fucked to the extent that you are obviously over salting to a dangerous level. Do people really not care about that? Do they want to model it to their kids? Weird.

ErrolTheDragon · 21/01/2015 10:00

Yeah, I want people to enjoy food I've cooked too. The way to do that is to taste and then if they want by all means season to taste. Hmm

Britbird · 21/01/2015 10:05

I think it's recommended that you don't eat more than 6g a day which is about a teaspoon. Salt is in so much stuff already that if you add it when cooking and at the table then you'd regularly be eating more that this.

EatShitDerek · 21/01/2015 10:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

expatinscotland · 21/01/2015 10:16

No, Tinkly, I really don't care about it. Life is short, enjoy your food.

WorraLiberty · 21/01/2015 10:19

Tinkly, people model all sorts of unhealthy habits to their kids - hence the massive rise in obesity for example.

It's a sprinkle of salt, not crack cocaine.

Britbird · 21/01/2015 10:24

In one of those Robert Winston programmes about child development, I think he showed that children show a preference for sweet or salty tastes at a very early age. It's linked to our genes and something to do with which taste buds are more sensitive.

GentlyBenevolent · 21/01/2015 10:28

Tinkly - I think in the case of salted cheese on toast it's the CHEESE you need to be worrying about.

Many people who like a lot of salt use lo-salt anyway.

As far as the stew goes - it probably tasted foul even with salt. That is more likely to be why he threw it away. There's no such thing as food that's too salty. But even salt can't redeem a truly rank meal.

GentlyBenevolent · 21/01/2015 10:31

worra people model all sorts of unhealthy habits to their kids - hence the massive rise in obesity for example.

Exactly. The fact that the poster was fretting about the salt on cheese on toast rather than the actual unhealthy thing (the cheese!) says it all really.

Original poster
KirjavaTheCat · 21/01/2015 10:34

As far as the stew goes - it probably tasted foul even with salt.

Sad it was blimmin' lovely.

OP posts:
EatShitDerek · 21/01/2015 10:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ErrolTheDragon · 21/01/2015 10:39

Britbird My tends to prefer savoury food, loved salty hula hoops etc when young. But DH has to limit salt (he has the sort of high blood pressure where it really is an issue) so she's become accustomed to anything home-cooked being very low salt (I actually tell guests that they may well need to add more, I usually do). So now she likes food more if it's not very salty but flavoured with herbs, chili etc. Given that DH's blood pressure thing seems to run in his family this has to be a good thing.

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