Whats up with salt, some foods have no taste without it... like is it just the salt that tastes good or what?
Discussion
Enhances flavor, up to a point before it destroys it
Sprinkle a little on an orange and it will taste way more orangey
So if I just east salt directly what am I enhancing the taste of? My mouth?
Perhaps its time to take a look at the Science of Cooking :D
Crack open the organic chem once again
Careful!
MSG
ask a nocoiner they have a lot
Yup, brings out the flavor in foods. Salt everything!
its the biochemistry
Salt you food like your life depedns on it, it does , just make sure you get a good one
Yup. You love salt because your body needs it to conduct itself in a healthy manner
Unlike what they say, salt is good for humans. And in addition it gives flavor. I don't know why he's demonized like that
read the "Salt" chapter of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. Explained very well there
+1 for that book
I'm a big proponent of first-principles cooking. If you understand what's going on at the bottom, you almost never need to pay attention to a recipe's "method" section and can do way more with "what do I have on hand...?" as an entry point to cooking.
It's kind of funny because before I learned the science of what's going behind all these methods that I used, I just did this shit without thinking about it.
Like I knew about "salting from within" before I read that book, but when I read that and a couple other of cooking science books, I was like, oh shit, it makes so much more sense now.
As an electronics nerd I think of it like this.
The body is basically a semiconductor electronic device. You are 70% water, pure water being an insulator. Salt is the doping agent that makes the water conductive.
So not enough salt, the control signals can't pass through the transistor gates. Too much and it all leaks out instead of following the desired path.
Do a quick check and you'll find that not enough salt and too much salt have the same symptoms. Makes sense since they both lead to the electrical control signals in your body not following the desired paths properly.
Salt is so important it is the only micronutrient you evolved the ability to taste. Your desire for salty foods changes based on your need too.
TLDR, if you are gnawing on a salt lamp like a golden retriever with a bone, you probably need more salt in your diet.
There is an exception, some people genetically can't clear salt as well. Easily self tested with a home blood pressure cuff. I started supplementing salt and my BP dropped, I have a genetic double whammy of high salt need though.
Salt pulls the flavor out of foods. Try a small pinch in your coffee and you'll never go back ☕ 🧂 I haven't had a cup of coffee without salt in over 5 years, can't drink without now
Ya have you ever had unsalted bread? It’s trippy AF
No, but it makes you wonder if we should be eating these things at all
Just watched this video and then saw your post
Salt is a flavour enhancer…