Amidst a sea of articles about food, news, and recipes, there lies one common factor. No, its not flour, avocado, butter, sugar, or bacon. Its quite simply, salt & pepper.
Salt and pepper have somehow beat out all other spices in your spice cabinet on their way to the American dinner table. But why not stick them in the spice rack alongside those three-year-old cinnamon sticks and that empty jar of paprika? Are salt and pepper really that important?
Used well, pepper adds a kick to a dish that is missing some spice. Used in excess and youre left cutting the edges off of that inedible piece of chicken you worked so hard for. Keep in mind that unlike salt, pepper can not be sprinkled on just anything (ground pepper in my chocolate mousse? No thanks). Only use pepper on foods that can stand up to its powerful flavor, like meat, mushrooms, or potatoes.
Pre-ground pepper often loses flavor when exposed to air and light for a prolonged time. Thus, if you have the option, always choose freshly ground black pepper for fuller flavor that really packs a punch.
Table salt, the king of all spices, is an integral part of the human diet. Our bodies need salt in order to perform basic functions. Too little salt and the fluid levels in our bodies fall out of balance; too much salt and we damage our arteries, increasing our blood pressure.
In fact, salt is so important that it is classified under one of the five basic tastes (salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami). To put it simply, salt makes food taste more like, well, itself. The #1 rule of frying is that you must immediately salt food once it comes out of the deep fryer. Salted french fries have a stronger potato flavor than non-salted french fries; salting a burger before grilling ultimately makes it taste just a bit beefier.
There arent many foods out there that couldnt be improved with salt. Even adding salt to non-savory foods like ice cream or chocolate milk can make them taste better. Salted caramel tastes amazing because it is salted.
Be warned, once you over-salt a dish it is very hard to go back. Remember that you can always add more, so it may be a good idea to let people add more salt to adjust to their individual tastes.
This shifted to a more general useage of seasoning meaning to add flavor. Salt and pepper, which are so common as to seem boring, are both great ways to add for to food. Salt actually makes our sense of taste work better, enriching the natural flavors of the food. So it being a primary seasoning makes sense.
Amidst a sea of articles about food, news, and recipes, there lies one common factor. No, its not flour, avocado, butter, sugar, or bacon. Its quite simply, salt & pepper.
Table salt, the king of all spices, is an integral part of the human diet. Our bodies need salt in order to perform basic functions. Too little salt and the fluid levels in our bodies fall out of balance; too much salt and we damage our arteries, increasing our blood pressure.
In fact, salt is so important that it is classified under one of the five basic tastes (salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami). To put it simply, salt makes food taste more like, well, itself. The #1 rule of frying is that you must immediately salt food once it comes out of the deep fryer. Salted french fries have a stronger potato flavor than non-salted french fries; salting a burger before grilling ultimately makes it taste just a bit beefier.
Pre-ground pepper often loses flavor when exposed to air and light for a prolonged time. Thus, if you have the option, always choose freshly ground black pepper for fuller flavor that really packs a punch.
Used well, pepper adds a kick to a dish that is missing some spice. Used in excess and youre left cutting the edges off of that inedible piece of chicken you worked so hard for. Keep in mind that unlike salt, pepper can not be sprinkled on just anything (ground pepper in my chocolate mousse? No thanks). Only use pepper on foods that can stand up to its powerful flavor, like meat, mushrooms, or potatoes.
As Rays story demonstrates, salt and pepper may rule supreme among seasonings in European dishes, but many culinary traditions have produced plenty of tabletop alternatives. Ray asked for examples on the Association for the Study of Food and Societys Facebook page and received 36 responses within two hours. Among the examples: fish sauce and crushed red peppers in Thailand and Laos; lime, salsa, and chopped onion and cilantro in Mexico; and chile-based awaze paste in Ethiopia.
Natalie Jacewicz is a science writer based in New York City. You can find more of her work here. Gnawing Questions is a semi-regular column answering the food mysteries puzzling us and our readers. Got a question you want us to explore? Let us know via our contact form.
In fact, salt has occupied a place of culinary dominance across cultures. “We like the taste of salt innately because salt is a signal of protein in nature,” says Rachel Herz, an adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University and author of Why You Eat What You Eat. Whats more, humans need salt to regulate fluid balance and help nerves and muscles function. Salt also helped preserve food before refrigeration. And, Herz says, studies have shown that the more salt people eat, the more they crave it.
But these two culinary staples have not always occupied such a place of prominence. “Its a weird accident of history,” says Ken Albala, a professor of history and founder of the Food Studies Program at the University of the Pacific. In Europe during the Late Middle Ages, “Pepper was never on the table, nor was any other spice, for that matter. Usually spices would be added in the kitchen with a very heavy hand until the 17th century.”
Salt was on the table, but not in a shaker. Instead, salt was often presented in saltcellars, or in Italian courtly settings, at the end of a knife offered by a trinciante, or meat carver. According to Albala, the trinciante would carve the meat in the air, allowing each slice to fall delicately to the person being served. The trinciante would then dip the end of the knife in salt and scrape it onto the diners plate. (If this sounds complicated, it was; there were entire books dedicated to the art of carving, and noblemen were often the carvers.)
Why Salt & Pepper Ended Up On Every Table
FAQ
Why do we put salt and pepper on everything?
What is the point of salt and pepper?
Why do we need salt and pepper?
Why do Americans only use salt and pepper?
Why do peppers have salt?
Pepper fans, be warned: They take major issue with the spice’s ubiquity. The prevalence of salt, however, makes sense. It’s found all over the planet, is a vital ingredient for life, helps to keep our bodies functioning at full capacity, and serves to enhance certain flavors by suppressing bitterness.
How does one eliminate salt from their body?
Sodium is an essential nutrient for human health. It assists in conducting nerve impulses, contracting and relaxing muscles, and significantly contributes to the balance of water and nutrients in the blood. Rather than attempting to “eliminate” sodium from the body, it is recommended to consume at least 500 mg of sodium per day, and limit your intake to 2300 mg per day.
Why do we use salt and Pepper every day?
We use salt and pepper every day to season our foods. As you spice up that bland piece of chicken on your fifth diet of the year, have you ever wondered how the black and white pairing came to be? Popular YouTube Channel It’s Okay To Be Smart took a look at the history behind the two iconic seasonings.
Do salt and Pepper go well together?
The use of salt and pepper as tableside condiments has since spread throughout Europe and the Americas, though it’s quite uncommon in Asia where soy sauce, fish sauce, and oyster sauce are predominantly used as a sodium source. Salt and pepper are still considered each other’s ride-or-die, all because one man decided they go well together.