Unseasoned food

[ChangeAgainAgainAgain]

I've eaten at a few other people's houses in the last couple of months, and I've really noticed the absence of seasoning, and no salt or pepper mills on the table.

I grew up in the 80's, where salt was added in cooking to everything, so obviously it's great for health that we're no longer adding salt to vegetable water etc.

I don't generally add salt to cooking, but I always put salt and pepper mills on the table, and would generally add some to my plate.

I've recently been served meals such as grilled salmon, boiled baby potatoes, steamed veg, with no seasoning, no herbs, not even butter or EVOO on the potatoes. Or a roast dinner, no seasoning added in cooking at all, not even on the potatoes. No salt and pepper mills on the table. Honestly to me, these meals taste super bland.

Now, I'm an old fogie, and the people hosting me have been various ages, but all younger than me. Is this just how it is now? People's palates have changed?

So, AIBU to say that whilst not adding excessive salt in cooking is a great thing for health, it's normal/polite to have salt and pepper mills on the table?

IANBU - bring on the salt and pepper
IABU - times have changed. Cruet sets have no place in the modern world!

Obviously! The only people who get used to chilli are those who like it. Otherwise you don’t eat it often enough to get used to it.

I can taste when someone has used ordinary pepper in cooking so I can confidently say I am never going to be able to taste food with chilli in it.

Spices actually are ‘heat’. They may not be to you but to me that’s what they taste like and they overwhelm anything.

It sounds like you have very sensitive tastebuds. I used to struggle with spicy food but over years of my husband’s cooking I now have a very high spice threshold. It’s something that built over time.

My friend who is Pakistani says they start them young

I think cooking has changed and people are more health conscious. The only time I add salt to my dinner is if I have chips. I only eat chips if I am at the seaside and have fish and chips, so probably 3-4 times a year.

I never put salt in with rice, noodles or quinoa. I mostly stir fry or steam vegetables, so why would you add salt when doing that? I don't think people eat traditional meat and two veg type meals so much these days. Modern eating habits are very different. Most people I know cook various Asian cuisines, curries, noodle based dishes, ramen, or one pot type meals, which all usually have so many different spices and flavourings they don't need salt.

I am more likely to add pepper to things. White or black depending on the recipe.

Fair enough but not sure how you build something like that. Also not sure why most people would - if it’s really unpleasant then why would you choose to continue? 😬

Well we'll agree to disagree. Im a supertaster so I can taste the earth, the nuttiness, the brightness and citrus and many other flavours in them, and then the food.

Onions all taste different according to how you cut/slice/grate them and I use those as flavour as well.

Also a synonym for spicy is in fact ‘heat’ 😬

I have no idea what a supertaster is but it sounds terrifying!

It's hardly the moral high ground. It's basic NHS advice not to add salt to your food.

The NHS get a lot of things wrong but more than that, the original comment was about whether food was tasting like food or tasting like salt.

People who dont understand how to use seasoning dont understand that salt brings out of the flavour of food

The NHS is not an authority on good flavour.

Curiosity, sensory seeking, a desire to try different world cuisines, wanting to travel, wanting to share food with loved ones, wanting to improve your cooking, and a certain amount of pride in being able to conquer a vindaloo without even flinching!

I am so glad I did it, but I was highly motivated.

Fair enough - I couldn’t be arsed with putting myself through that!

You've not experienced salt free 'gravy'. With the extra water, it looks like tea made by waving a Basics decaff bag in the general direction of the mug from somewhere down the garden and tastes only marginally better.

Plus unsalted butter being 'too rich', necessitating minimal fat, ultra slimmer margarine/spread. And bread made without salt/breeze block slices. And the skin taken off a piece of salmon because 'it's too fatty' after microwaving it for five minutes to make sure it has the texture of tinned salmon without the fat, salt or taste....

Spices actually are ‘heat’. They may not be to you but to me that’s what they taste like and they overwhelm anything

Hot spices like mustard, ginger, pepper or chillis are "heat".
Other spices like cardamon, cloves, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, turmeric are aromatic, not hot.

The term spicy is synonymous with heat, but there are far more aromatic spices than hot spices.

We don't eat a lot of salt, but we don't eat a completely salt free diet either. That sounds so worthy and joyless.

They're hot pepper based sauces with vinegar and sometimes other spices. Louisiana style uses cayenne. The one I usually buy uses a couple different hot peppers along with vinegar and garlic.

They're great on anything eggy and home fries and pretty much everything. Bean soup a bit bland, dash of hot sauce and squeeze of lime. Scrambled tofu, yes. Migas, yum.

Haha I actually really like how it tastes by itself. I hardly season my food. I do sometimes add chilli. Very similar to VB diet yes. Everytging is steamed or grilled.
its delicious to me.
I like sweet potatoe.
im boring...i know hahaha

Thanks for explaining something so obvious. All the things you listed taste hot and unpleasant to me regardless of whether you believe that. Call it what you want but “Aromatic” means “inedible” for me. I’m not sure quite why you want to get into semantics but it’s all shite to me.

Salt and vinegar are great but that’s as far as it goes.

I thought of this thread this morning because I cook up semolina from time to time, with full fat milk, cinnamon and nutmeg. I would be really really surprised if someone tasted that and said it was 'hot' or inedible. The nutmeg brings out the creaminess of the milk.

I use a lot of natural flavourings - garlic, ginger, spices, herbs, soy, fish sauces etc so I don't then add salt as well to these types of dishes, either during or after cooking.

If we are having a chippy tea (sausage, chips and runny fried eggs is a favourite one) then adding salt at the table is a must, as well as Daddies brown sauce for me.

I have a salt and pepper shaker set that lives on the table all the time.

It would indeed be inedible - particularly the cinnamon 🤷‍♀️ If there is enough that I can taste it, it’s too much 😬

I don’t mind the taste of garlic but don’t eat it because I think it’s not fair on fellow commuters and colleagues 😀

I think people just don't know how to cook these days.

Reminds me of the stories I’ve heard of people having hot sauce in their bags and smothering everything in it when they are out and about. Maybe you need some seasoning sachets in your pockets and when no one is looking throw it all over the potatoes.

I think people THINK they can cook because they have watched it on TV and can talk about ‘layers of flavour’ etc 🤣

I’d rather season my food whilst cooking as it adds real flavour, but I would also have salt and pepper mills on the table to cater for everyone’s needs. Avoiding salt whilst actively eating Palm Oil, Folic Acid , Corn Surup, and Sweeteners sound funny to me.