Did the wartime generation salt their food more than we do today?

My mother and my maternal grandmother always added salt when cooking vegetables. And my maternal grandfather added more salt at the table. Grandma lived to early 80s and granddad to 91. I never stayed with the other grandparents but I expect they used salt. I stopped adding salt to veg when the DDs were being weaned because they always ate what we were eating (within reason!). I now add a little salt when boiling potatoes but not to any other veg. DH and I never add salt at the table.

After I was married I gradually gave up using salt when I was cooking vegetables. It was quite a shock to go back to my mother's and find that her vegetables were nearly inedible because all I could taste was salt. My father was one of those who pour salt all over their food before they've even tasted it. To be fair he had lost most of his sense of taste after he had flu.

I find a lot of chocolate very salty. Galaxy in particular, but other brands too.

I like a bit of salt on fried mushrooms, or yes, chips, but I virtually never have those. That's about it.

My DH is allergic to peas!

I had just watched 2 episodes of Ina Garton, not only does she cook with huge amounts of salt ,she also adds Sea salt on the top of the cooked dishes before she serves them.

I buy frozen peas! (I thought everyone did)
I'm just off to check the packet as I didn't realise frozen veg had salt in it.

The only time I use salt as a condiment is on a dippy egg. In cooking I use a little when I'm cooking finely chopped onions as it helps them to turn transparent -apparently!

moggie I don’t think most people eat frozen veg. I never do!

I use low salt in my cooking and add black pepper to my meals ..must admit I find potatoes tastless without a bit of low salt added .

I have diabetes and have been told to NOT have salt on or with my meals. They taste AWFUL. I guess it helps, as I can't eat much of anything, so I'm gradually losing weight. My mother and grandmother always put salt in their cooking, as well as having it available on the table. I have never pre-salted my food, either when cooking or eating, but I did enjoy eggs and potatoes with salt. Nothing tastes the same now!

Good lord, Grandmamaoftwo, wonder how I totally forgot the salt block of my childhood! I was allowed to use a big blunt knife to break it up and put it into a crock by the cooker.

We use loads of spices and flavours and herbs etc., now in our cooking and very little salt, (sea salt now), but loads of black pepper. We have unsalted butter always and I now couldn't eat the wonderful Welsh and Breton butter which I always loved many years ago - it's obviously just something that your palate gets used to. Salt is no longer the flavouring which was so important in previous generations when there would have been little knowledge about the possible health issues. I'd agree that automatically seasoning food on a plate without trying it first, is just a bad habit - and a crazy thing to do eating away from home - too much seasoning could immediately ruin a meal!

It's true that the sense of taste does fade with advancing years - I saw that when preparing meals for my own Mum : at 103 she was no longer able to appreciate anything with a subtle flavour.

We do have to increase our salt intake in the summer though, because of the heat and loss of salts which can make one feel very peculiar!

I don’t use much salt at all but it is on the table if we have people round for supper (remember when that used to happen!)
I prefer it if the diner tastes the food before using the condiments but whatever??‍♀️.
I do find that I get very thirsty when eating out as, usually, restaurants use a lot more salt than I do.
My grandmother and mum always salted the veg and then dolloped butter on top.

I was only discussing this with dh yesterday, we both remember our mother’s chopping a salt block, the size of a house brick and stored in a large salt pot and yes salt was added to everything. We rarely add salt as vegetables are steamed cooked, but we do use plenty of black pepper.

Yes because people found the food bland .whereas today most people buy frozen veg and that already has salt in it.so you don't need anymore

My Granny lived for 5 years under German Occupation in Guernsey. Salt ran out very early on. They had to boil seawater away until it left the salt. I think that generation were heavy on salt compared to today.

My Mother's generation always put a hefty pinch of salt in when cooking vegetables, and salt and pepper were used at the table. I don't do either; I love freshly ground black pepper and sprinkle that liberally over my meals, but salt is used only on scrambled eggs- and then just a light sprinkle. I think you enjoy the true flavour of food without too much seasoning.

Strange I know but I grew up in a home where there were no condiments either in the larder or on the table. As a result I loathe salt, pepper, mustard, vinegar, ketchup, mayonnaise, salad dressing etc. People think I’m very odd sometimes!

I often wonder how chefs must feel if they see diners liberally shaking salt on their food before they have even tasted it.
I have seen so many people in restaurants doing just that.

I remember reading once about a top executive who used that method to weed out potential job applicants!

Salt certainly featured more in my childhood than it does today. My mum always added it to the saucepan and it was there on the table as well. I don’t think she uses much salt nowadays - as others have commented, food was much blander in war and post-war days so maybe it was required to make food palatable. I almost never use salt apart from when making my own bread. Dh has that Lo-salt version.

It didn’t do my parents any harm, dad lived into his 90’s and my mum is now in her 90’s.

During WW2 I understand that there was a significant shortage of onions/spices/herbs in much of the UK. So a lot of recipes/food relied on salt for flavour.

I put a small amount of salt in the pan when cooking veg, but if DH does the cooking it is inedible as he puts so much in. He always adds it to his plate without tasting, though it did occur to me that I often have gravy whilst he rarely does, so I get more salt that way, but I try to keep it low.

Yes! My father used to have two boiled eggs for breakfast and I can remember he used to take the top off each egg and fill the space at the top with salt. Then he'd wink at me because my mother fought a constant battle to reduce his salt intake. 'Only cannibals don't salt their food,' he'd murmer digging in. Lovely man; at his funeral one of the wreaths read To the Nicest Bloke I Ever Met. Great epitaph for anyone.

I think food tasted better because it wasn't mass produced. Salt does flavour food but, like sugar, if you stop using it, your taste buds adjust so eventually more salt or sugar just tastes horrible. When you look at how much water is added to meat, vegetables that no longer have the same amount of vitamins and how quickly our meat is grown, it is no wonder things don't taste the same.

I'm sure they did, I seem to remember salt was liberally applied to food and was ever present on the table in what was quaintly known as the cruet when I was growing up. Then somewhere along the line, between childhood and my parents visiting me in my own home as an adult the salt had been banished as they had got wind of the fact that it hardened the arteries I still love a bit of sea salt on certain food items and love salty tasting things such as anchovies and certain cheeses, but try to rein it in mindful of the fact that it's not really good for us

Now don't add salt during cooking process
Stopped whilst weaning my children.
Consequently my children don't add salt to food.

I do add salt to porridge, after its cooked.

My father in law always had a mound of salt on side of his plate. He never sprinkled salt over his meal.

When suffering night cramps especially during pregnancy I would eat a packet of salted crisps daily.

I never miss salt.
However I do like my food to have plenty of black pepper.