# Something I HATE



## aaronsgibson (Mar 26, 2011)

Alright, now a days not to much ruffles my feathers once the dish is out to who ever. But with one exception and I'm sure many of you will agree. I hate those people who automatically reach for the damn salt! even before the dish hits the table there they are getting primed and ready to douse the dish with extra salt without even getting the time to smell it let alone taste the dish. I hate that. Got into it with my dad today about that when after I had some pizza (which was very good) comes over and puts kosher salt over it. 

"That's the secret." he tells me 

Now, there was no meat or such just plan cheese but still damn it give it a taste first off and if you do for god sakes don't do it right in front of me. I told him basically you're telling me that I don't know how to season things right. (And oddly enough he NEVER seasons his hash browns) 

So how about the rest of you?


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## SpikeC (Mar 26, 2011)

Agree 100%! I have a brother in law who does that, just shows no consideration for all the work that goes into the food. And it blows out all of the nuances in the dish.


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## FryBoy (Mar 26, 2011)

Don't be too harsh on these folks -- they may be physically addicted to salt and simply can't enjoy anything unless it's loaded with the stuff. Check this article on the subject: 

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-05-15/...evels-taste-buds-sodium-and-salt?_s=PM:HEALTH


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## aaronsgibson (Mar 26, 2011)

Oh, I know some people are like that but still for the love of God please just taste the food before you go about turning it into a salt lick. I have to watch my salt so I switched to sea salt less sodium so I know that things wont taste as salty but it enhances the flavor if you ask me. I know that you can't always season things to everyone's liking. If we tried I think we would take the nearest knife and either kill ourselves or more likely another person.


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## FryBoy (Mar 26, 2011)

My wife frequently reminds me that if there's not enough salt in the food, it can be added at the table, but you can't do anything about it if the food's over salted. Since it's such a personal thing, I figure it's better to use a bit less than too much.


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## SpikeC (Mar 26, 2011)

I haven't had the BIL over in quite a while, butt if he rears his head around here again I just might doctor his serving before it gets to the table and see what happens!


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## Eamon Burke (Mar 26, 2011)

My wife is crazy about salt, she likes lots of it, and she gets excited about good salts, and she LOVES salt on pizza. Drives her nuts on when she sees people make pizza without salting it.

That said(!):

The secret?! What secret? Like you didn't know about SALT?! How does he know you didn't salt it, or use a salty sauce, or whatever! Maybe the real secret is that you baked it over a dead raccoon. You made it, any secrets are yours to disclose!

It's funny how dads can be *just* the right person to be the perfect storm of annoying, endearing, misdirected, and plain rude all at once.


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## aaronsgibson (Mar 26, 2011)

My friend you just hit the nail on the head and made my day. Thank you.


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## UglyJoe (Mar 27, 2011)

Well, in some of these guys defense, there's a difference between seasoning something and salting it. Seasoning is done during the course of cooking for very specific reasons, not all of them based on taste (at least not initially). In fact, I usually consider seasoning to be using salt in such a way as that the food doesn't taste salty. When you are using salt to actually impart the taste of salt, you aren't seasoning, you are salting. There are some people that just like things to taste "salty". That's what salt at the table is for, IMO. Salting at the table almost never seasons food, it just makes it salty, and some people just want there food to be salty...

That being said, salt isn't an option at my table. You eat it the way I want it to taste, and if you don't like it you tell me so.


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## JohnnyChance (Mar 27, 2011)

UglyJoe said:


> Well, in some of these guys defense, there's a difference between seasoning something and salting it. Seasoning is done during the course of cooking for very specific reasons, not all of them based on taste (at least not initially). In fact, I usually consider seasoning to be using salt in such a way as that the food doesn't taste salty. When you are using salt to actually impart the taste of salt, you aren't seasoning, you are salting. There are some people that just like things to taste "salty". That's what salt at the table is for, IMO. Salting at the table almost never seasons food, it just makes it salty, and some people just want there food to be salty...



Exactly. If you made two identical dishes, one seasoning as you go, and one adding all the salt at the end, they will be completely different. You cant just "add salt at the table" to make up for improperly seasoned food. 

That said, I once had an old, crotchety owner tell me to not salt ANYTHING because that is why we had salt shakers on the tables. And this was at an "upscale american pub" with 30-something dollar entrees.


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## Jay (Mar 27, 2011)

aaronsgibson said:


> Alright, now a days not to much ruffles my feathers once the dish is out to who ever. But with one exception and I'm sure many of you will agree. I hate those people who automatically reach for the damn salt! even before the dish hits the table there they are getting primed and ready to douse the dish with extra salt without even getting the time to smell it let alone taste the dish. I hate that. Got into it with my dad today about that when after I had some pizza (which was very good) comes over and puts kosher salt over it.
> 
> "That's the secret." he tells me
> 
> ...


 
When I was a kid, my mom and I would enjoy our "Sunday morning routine". My dad would always salt his eggs before he tasted them, and mom would argue with him about that all the time. She started to salt them heavily before serving him, and I, of course, would add salt, too. My father would sit down, add his salt, and taste them while mom and I snickered to each other. Invariably, he would still add more, and our mouths would drop.


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## Vertigo (Mar 27, 2011)

I think standard American food served in standard American restaurants is stupidly under seasoned. Not sure what makes restaurant owners so terrified of the stuff, but despite the "faux pas" I really have no qualms dumping salt onto untasted food from your average American diner. More upscale places, sure, I'll always taste it first (and rarely need to adjust anything). Same goes with ethnic foods, I can't think of a time I've needed to salt something from a Chinese restaurant, and only one Mexican joint where I needed to salt the rice and beans--which was a bad sign!


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