S and P or not

I haven't had salt in the house for years. I prefer the taste of the actual food.

Yes I do. I don't cook with salt but if I don't have any salt I get terrible leg cramps. I have always eaten a lot of salt and feel my body needs it. At 74 with bp of 120 over 70 I'm doing ok.

I never put salt in cooking so people can choose for themselves. I use low sodium salt on my meals because anything else is too salty. There’s way too much salt in roasted nuts and crisps for my liking.

I rarely need to put salt on food either at home (where I have cooked it) or when eating out. DH has high blood pressure so I've cut down on salt and only use a very little in cooking.
We do have both black and white pepper though. I especially love black pepper on vegetables.

I don`t use salt or pepper at all,never have.
And i find it very rude when people put s or p on their food without tasting it first.
Before Covid19 we were in an all you can eat Chinese buffet and this man put so much salt on his food i couldn`t help but wonder if he could actually taste the food itself.

I love salt and have masses on everything, there is never enough season on anything for me. It is not doing me any harm, I do not have high blood pressure am skinny and well. Touch wood.

Interesting to read about the salt tablets. My dad suffered from awful leg cramps, and was prescribed these. They worked for him.

Automatic salting sounds rather old fashioned! I always salt potato and eggs, and a pinch in baking / porridge etc. Oversalting is not good for us but I think the dangers of any salt are being questioned.

Spangler

When you have a very expensive set of Aga cruets, you show them off!

Ooooo get you ?

My grandparents always put salt and pepper pots on the table. They always seasoned everything. Didn't do them any harm, they were both in their 90s when they died.

I have never been a S&P person but claimed their S&P pots when they died.

I still have them, complete with the S&P they had put in, all those years ago

My aunt of 88 always salts her food before tasting. Has done all her life I believe. We just put the salt on the table when she comes.

Used to but not anymore the only thing i salt is chips and pepper on my steak.

My OH does it. I comment occasionally, but as it doesn't really affect me, I usually ignore it. His son was a chef, though, and when OH once did this at his house, his son not surprisingly wasn't very happy.

My mum does it too (as did my late dad). I've never forgotten having a meal out with them in a little bistro in Spain that OH and I used to frequent, where the chef seasoned the chips before serving them.
We warned my parents to taste them first, but they chose to ignore us - their faces were a picture when they took their first mouthful of salt-laden chips

I salt my food. I eat full fat, unprocessed foods and fatty meats with leafy green vegetables. I have zero sugar and very low carbs. I believe this is the correct way to eat, it certainly suits me. No excess weight, no health issues and I am not that far off 70!

I’m afraid my DH is another serial salter. I use the minimum of salt when cooking and never salt vegetables other than potatoes, but he reaches for the salt as a matter of course. I’ve hauled him over the “it’s insulting to the cook” coals, but he does it anyway. He’s too set in his ways to change now. I like a good grind of black pepper on my food.

Never add salt to my food while DH does automatically! It seems to be the men mostly. As I said on another thread we have been told all these years to cut back on salt, well my sodium levels are always lowish and the GP said no need to unless advised by consultant! But I'm so used to it now I can't eat anything remotely salty.

Any talk of adding salt to food always reminds me of a story I read a few years ago about a top American executive’s method for selecting staff.

As part of the interview technique, he would take shortlisted candidates out to lunch and then watch carefully to see what they did when the food arrived.

Those who liberally shook salt on their food without tasting it first were immediately crossed off the list!

His theory was that salting a meal without tasting it first demonstrated a person who was fixed in their thinking and habits - not the kind of free thinker he was looking for!

It’s surprising how many people do do it though.

Auntieflo mentioning the salt tablets reminds me that my Dad was in India during the war and they were given a teaspoon of salt every day in the hot climates. This is to replace the salts lost through sweating. He could never understand why we were told in the 80s that too much salt was bad for you, as it was fixed in his mind that it was healthy to take lots of it, despite the more temperate climate.

My DH used to take a school trip to Sorrento each year and after one girl once collapsed from dehydration (this was before we were all told to drink all the time), he always kept salt tablets in his first aid kit.

I've noticed lately that I need to add salt at the table, and my mother used a lot more as as she got older, so it may be that you lose your sense of taste with age.

Also, I have a theory that people who smoke tend to prefer spicier food - smoking seems to desensitise the taste buds. As so many more people used to smoke as a matter of course, this may explain why, as Calendargirl says, people used to put salt on their food automatically.

I don't see the point of pepper. It doesn't add to the taste, just burns your mouth, thus detracting from the taste. If it's required in a recipe, I may add a little, but don't put it on the table.

It’s an interesting question Lucca and indicative of how times change.
I add salt to the water for cooking vegetables and pasta, but don’t often add it to meals, once served.
I do put the grinders on the table and my partner likes at add a grind of pepper to pasta, steaks etc.

We have eaten in restaurants where S&P are not provided, ostensibly because the chef feels s/he has seasoned perfectly!

My parents added salt and pepper to all meals ...

I was taught since childhood (I’m 80) that it was bad manners to add salt at the table, as it implies the cook does not season the food properly. There are a few exceptions, such as boiled eggs, which can only be seasoned by the person eating them.

Just over certain things - boiled or fried eggs, chips, fresh tomatoes (which might also get a sprinkle of sugar), and some tinned soups.

Like some, I do put a little salt in cooking, but for years we have not had salt and pepper on the table.

DH was brought up in India, and often had salt tablets given to him as a child.

I have found some ready meals, i.e Cook Shop, to be quite salty.

I don’t use much salt and would always taste first. But would find eg a boiled egg tasteless without salt.
Something I don’t understand when it comes to seasoning...on Masterchef the experts will comment on seasoning and criticise accordingly. Comments like well seasoned/poorly seasoned etc. But is the level of seasoning not down to personal taste and the same dish could be perfectly seasoned for one palate and over/under seasoned for another?
In one episode Greg Wallace declared “ Oh this is someone who really knows seasoning “
Maybe I’m missing something!

I use neither regularly. My husband uses both even though hd has BP problems. He won't listen.