Salt, the Expensive Seasoning.

Photography by Wayne Stanley

Salt has become the expensive seasoning, as it is necessary to attend an expensive restaurant to experience it.

In fact, adequate seasoning is also becoming scarce, unless you are prepared to pay for it. The familiar salt cellar is no longer to be found on the tables of most restaurants nowadays, even though the pepper grinder still appears.

Most chefs do have the skill of salting and seasoning their food well, and are not the one’s to blame for this new travesty. This practice is  expected of chefs by a good-intentioned, misguided public, that a low sodium diet requires it. The low sodium diet is not even based on sound medical evidence.

I remember watching Chef Mark McEwan, of North 44, One, Bymark, Fabbrica and McEwan Grocery, Catering and Prepared Meals fame, on TV, during his catering show, training the sous chefs to season everything well, down to each leaf in the salad, emphasizing  that nothing unseasoned should land on the plate. In fact, he advocated seasoning the garnish too, although having garnishes on a plate merely for the sake of garnish, is a topic for another day.

So many functions, come to mind, where I was served a starter salad, that consisted of some nondescript leaves, with a few splashes, and I mean a few only, of dressing drizzled on the top. Now, there is no way that I can toss this salad at the table without half of it ending up on the tablecloth, and is pointless, as there isn’t enough seasoning/dressing anyway.

Ponder the thought of a simple egg without salt, rice without salt, or potato chips without salt, and you may remark that it goes without saying, that those need to be salted. Well, shouldn’t every other ingredient in the culinary world be treated with the same respect?

Author: Salt and Pepper

I love to eat good food, I love to cook good food. I believe that each ingredient should be treated with the highest respect it can be paid, good preparation. Eating good food is relishing dishes that which someone else, be it a Michelin Star Chef or a home cook, has prepared with skill and respect, and that it is well seasoned and thoughtfully presented. Cooking good food is taking my time, putting in the effort, to do the same. I prefer to be known as a "Foodie Wannabe". The term Foodie is too serious. You see, as "Foodie Wannabe" I can make mistakes and I do not have to know if the sauce is one of the five "mother" sauces¹ or a "little sauce". I do not have to define a gastrique² on the spot, spew culinary terms, or know the recipe for egg pasta³ off by heart. I can express my love for, and opinion of food unfiltered. Make no mistake, I am still open to critique, dare, and roasting, but eating and cooking are passions, not my job. As travelers, once my wife and I, have picked a destination, the immediate next step is to search for places to eat. Yes, the trip is planned around the dining. We are known to have picked destinations because of their restaurants, and come to think of it, that is mostly what has been the case. Authentic cuisine is what we are after, local dishes prepared by locals, ranging from street food to high-end dining. The dining experience is heightened if we are joined by family and friends who are fellow food lovers. My motto is BYH: Broaden Your Horizons™, and doing it all with passion. View all posts by Salt and Pepper