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

My MIL, born 1909, used copious amounts of salt in cooking - I thought everything tasted like seawater! To top that my FIL used to liberally sprinkle more salt over his plate without tasting it first.
I think it is what you get used to. I have weaned my DH off so much salt over the years. I had to have a low sodium diet during pregnancy 40+ years ago and I got used to having food without salt and rarely use it now, just a little on chips and like MrsEggy on the occasional boiled egg.

I think they did use more salt years ago than what we do now. There are that many processes goods that have loads of salt in them that you don't need to add much to your diet. I put salt in the vet when I'm cooking but not on my plate. I also buy reduced salt gravy cubes and gravy mix.

I'm Scottish. I haven't been aware of salt being ' a thing ' here. I do add a very little when cooking, but never at the table.

Salt in our butter , salt in bread and biscuits, tins of baked beans, not much need to add extra salt these days and if you buy processed food the salt content can be way over your daily average suggested intake.

I do not use salt in my cooking or on the table. My OH will sneak salt onto his food despite having high blood pressure. My Mother used to salt her cooking, and salt was always on the table and we used to have a salt pile on our plates especially when celery with bread and butter was for tea. How times have changed.

My mum certainly used to - she said that during the war, most food was so bland, you had to add salt to make it edible! Unfortunately she never got out of the habit , but I know just what you mean about not being able to replicate dishes that your mum made!

I do add salt to water when I cook but do not put in on the table. I wouldn't say I use a lot though.
I do put a cruet on table if we have other people eating with us & it does annoy me that they salt without tasting first.
None of the family ever add more salt.

Well, I still salt vegetables, potatoes and porridge when I cook them, but yes, I have noticed that a lot of people don't.

To me food cooked without salt is tasteless and dull, but I agree it is probably healthier in most cases.

We don't eat processed food apart from the occasional tin of beans and a little luncheon meat.

Definitely in my Mum's case!
She boiled veggies with salt, then added so much salt to the meal on her plate the you could see it lying on the food.

She was 96 when she died four years ago, apart from arthritis she was very fit and totally mentally acute. ?

My mother used to pile the salt at the side of her plate.
She thought it was bad manners to sprinkle it over food.
She was very odd.
As children we had to follow my mothers example and as a result I had no salt as every mouthful was dipped in the stuff and tasted of nothing but salt.

I couldn't eat eggs or potatoes without salt. I don't add salt when I'm cooking but have to admit to sprinkling it on most food after. I just like salty food. I know should probably reduce it. The practice nurse once told me at one of those Well Woman clinics that most salt is consumed by eating processed food and I don't often eat processed food, other than small amounts of bread, so I'm not too worried. I have low blood pressure anyway.

I had a similar conversation with DD the other day. In the 80s, when the kids were little, there seemed to be a real drive not to let toddlers have salty food. I went from salting everything when cooking, to salting nothing and individuals putting their own salt on when on the plate - which is what I still do.

Haven't used salt for years! (And don't miss it).

Granny 23.. back on page one.

I have had prescription for high blood pressure for some years. not too high, I think..

however, recently having a blood test , I was enquiring why I felt so tired all the time, and was told to have salt, a packet of salt and vinegar crisps,, can`t remember what I was lacking..
never been told to go back for another test!

I suppose you could describe me as a wartime generation person, a child, grew up in the war years, and yes, salt! salt! salt , just as described.. hence I struggle to reduce my salt intake..

confusing what!?

When my in-laws come to the table and you give them their plates of food, even before tasting it they ask for the salt and pepper. They add salt with some gusto, but as they haven't tasted it how do they know it needs more salt? I think for them it is just a habit.

Yes all they seemed to have was salt, maybe it was due to lack of available spices in aftermath of WW2. It definitely was meat and two verge generation, today we have so much choice. Personally I rarely add salt to food, plus too much is bad for you.

Definitely. My dad would add loads to cooking water and then liberally sprinkle it over his dinner. He had low blood pressure and lived to be 96. I’ve never put salt on afterwards so don’t need to wait for the salt cellar to be passed.
I always used it for cooking vegetables until I puréed it for the children as babies when the recommendation is no salt. Didn’t like it at first but got used to it and just carried on. Only use sea salt now which dh sprinkles on everything.

Grannynannywanny

This thread has given me a craving for a soft boiled egg with a liberal shake of salt.

I couldn't eat porridge without a little salt in it.

Yes, they did use more salt than we do now.
It was also used as a preservative before freezers. Runner beans etc were always salted down in preserving jars for the winter months. I really didn't like them as they stayed salty.

This thread has given me a craving for a soft boiled egg with a liberal shake of salt.

My mother always put salt her cooking and then when it was served up.
I never put salt on anything.

My mother used to have a pack of salt tablets (about as big as sugar cubes) in the kitchen, and add one to potatoes and greens when they were boiling. There was a saying "salt is what makes potatoes taste nasty if you forget to put it in". Also "kissing a man without a moustache is like eating an egg without salt!" I don't add salt to any vegetables now, but I do like salt on my boiled egg.

I haven't used salt in cooking vegetables since my children started solid food. We steam just about all veg now, so couldn't salt them in cooking even if we wanted to. Vegetables taste absolutely fine without it (very nice, in fact).

Not that this is particularly virtuous on my part because I actually love salty things, like ham and bacon and strong cheese. But the only food on the plate I'd salt would be chips, roast potatoes and tomato (which has to be salt and peppered!).

My dear old Dad used to salt his meals so liberally that when his plate was lifted there would be a ring of salt on the table

The wartime generation ate far less, salt laden, processed foods, apart from that wretched SPAM. Both my grandmothers made their own butter, gold top milk was popular for that purpose. Bacon and sausages would have been the only regular processed foods. Some sauces of course, but nothing like the amount of hidden salt that we consume today.

Look at the ingredients on any packet and instead of salt it will read: "Sodium." I wonder why that is?

Most everyday foodstuffs such as canned Baked Beans, Soups, Stock cubes, and even the humble Fish Finger or Sausage has had its salt content reduced by the manufacturers in recent years. Salt was once used as a reliable preservative in the food industry, but with better methods and preservatives now available, there is no longer the need for this, plus the fact that more frozen vegetables are sold these days than the heavily salted Canned variety ever was.