To wonder why no one seasons food anymore

[heydiddlysquat]

Visiting my daughter for lunch - cooking a roast. I remarked that she hadn't added any salt and pepper to the meat before cooking. She looked at me as if I was mad and said of course not - salt is bad for you.

I'm in my 60's and growing up all meat was seasoned before cooking (no other way of doing it) and of course people could add more afterwards to suit their taste.

But it seems everyone wants their food to be unseasoned (tasteless) nowadays.

Or am I out of touch?

https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/nutrition/herbs-and-spices

https://www.worldofspice.co.uk/blog/herbs-and-spices-the-best-salt-alternatives/

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/food/g30139449/salt-alternatives/

https://spicesinc.com/blogs/guide-seasoning-without-salt

There plenty of information about alternative seasoning out there.

I still add salt or salted butter to potatoes and like salt on chips. We did when kids were young and really went minimal salt find some dishes eaten out and some commercial sauces too slaty to be pleasant - so I do think there an element of what you are used to.

I think most people who don't add salt to food are maybe using ingredients already with salt? like bacon, pesto, sausages, gravy, soy sauce, pasta sauce from a jar, cheese, etc. I don't use any of these, don't add any gravy to roast for example, so if I didn't add salt the fiod would be disgusting, no flavour what so ever!

I think you must be right. A lot of ingredients we cook with already have salt in them, so I don't add extra salt to a stirfry for example, as soy sauce already has so much.

But a roast chicken, spuds and plain steamed/boiled/roasted veg with no salt added would be flavourless.

I use salt to cook. My understanding was that generally the amount of salt that people use to cook with is less than you get in most convenience products (ketchup, sauces etc). Unless you have a pre-existing healthy condition, salt isn't that bad for you unless you have it in huge quantities. Which people rarely do because it's...salty.

Don’t know anyone who doesn’t season whilst cooking! We don’t have salt and pepper on the table though - occasionally we will go and get it if someone feels their meal is under seasoned but that’s rare.

A lot of people don't seem to understand the purpose of using salt when cooking, or perhaps don't know that kosher salt exists and have just been using Saxa fine table salt which is blergh.

Hint: if it makes your food taste salty you're using too much.

Such a superior comment, that’s cringe, of course people know. They just have different options to you.

If it’s on thr table why do you need to go and get it?

Sorry ignore misread,

DS took hot sauce on cub and scout camp!

Duh.

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 😂

@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 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.

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!

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

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'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.

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.

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.

I did too

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

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.

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.