Salt

[pinkytoe]

We have to be counterculturists

I am finding this to be true with so many things in life today where it involves a product or service sold or marketed by corporations. It is dismaying to me to see grocery carts filled with chips, cookies and sodas especially when they have little kids. And it's all connected - keep producing and marketing the tasty, salty/sweet processed items and then make more money on the backside with diabetes and other health issues. However...just a half tsp to sugar really brightens a tomato sauce.

[razz]

"Countercultural thinking" should have its own thread.

Today I tried a dried bean soup base with dried veggies that I bought when it was too hot but now that it is cold outside, soup seemed a good idea. It is so salty. Do I simply toss it or throw a tbsp in a homemade veggie soup for flavouring?

[dado potato]

I enjoy eating certain things which are salty:
La Cocina Tortilla Chips "Fiesta Sabor"
Kalamata Olives
Bratwurst
kraut
Salami, Pepperoni, Prosciutto
Mozarella
Nueskes Applewood-smoked bacon
Pistachio nuts
Breaded fish fillets
Hummus

I usually enjoy them along with fresh fruit or vegetables. The flavors complement.

But I do not like to put salt on my sidewalk!

[JaneV2.0]

I enjoy eating certain things which are salty:
La Cocina Tortilla Chips "Fiesta Sabor"
Kalamata Olives
Bratwurst
kraut
Salami, Pepperoni, Prosciutto
Mozarella
Nueskes Applewood-smoked bacon
Pistachio nuts
Breaded fish fillets
Hummus

I usually enjoy them along with fresh fruit or vegetables. The flavors complement.

But I do not like to put salt on my sidewalk!

Aside from the breaded fillets, that sounds like a delightful spread!
I'd add some jalapeno kettle chips and cheeses...
Now I'm hungry. And I've already eaten. Dang.

[iris lilies]

I am finding this to be true with so many things in life today where it involves a product or service sold or marketed by corporations. It is dismaying to me to see grocery carts filled with chips, cookies and sodas especially when they have little kids. And it's all connected - keep producing and marketing the tasty, salty/sweet processed items and then make more money on the backside with diabetes and other health issues. However...just a half tsp to sugar really brightens a tomato sauce.

I am still surprised when I think about it going to the store to see the all of the aisle space devoted to chips, cookies, crackers. We just don’t buy that stuff for the most part.

me—I am guilty of deli foods. That is my gazngus pin.

[iris lilies]

"Countercultural thinking" should have its own thread.

Today I tried a dried bean soup base with dried veggies that I bought when it was too hot but now that it is cold outside, soup seemed a good idea. It is so salty. Do I simply toss it or throw a tbsp in a homemade veggie soup for flavouring?

I don’t know, but I always think about the high salt contact when I use Better than Bouillon products. While they give a depth in flavoring, they still are damn salty.

[SteveinMN]

A friend of mine cans her own tomatoes and, when she uses them in a recipe, adds a pinch of baking soda to neutralize the acidity (that is, not sugar).

And not to defend an entire industry of food processors that too often values profit over quality, but I will note that entire cuisines use lots of salt and salty ingredients: think soy sauces and salt-fermented/preserved foods. People ate those dishes for hundreds of years, apparently without incident. It's when heavily-processed Western food started creeping into those regions that the problems started.

[Rogar]

I don't keep salt or sugar in their pure forms in my house, but I'm sure to get my share in common processed foods. I buy monkfruit as a sugar substitute, which is rather expensive and falls short for some baking, but lasts a long time. My usual grocery store sells grind you own unsalted salt peanut butter and any more it seems like certain canned foods come in a reduced salt or sugar option. Dried beans for scratch soups rather than canned soup, which I figure is loaded with salt. I suspect that all of the substitute dairy and fake meat products I get occationally are loaded with salt, and I've got a weekness for crackers and hummus. That's about as far as I go with things. It seems like the more you can cook from scratch and control the ingredients, the better off.

I suspect somewhere in our hunter gatherer genetics we craved sugar, fat, and maybe salt as survival behaviour. They certainly enhance the flavor of some things, but I think the verdict is pretty much in on our modern indulgences.

[JaneV2.0]

"Countercultural thinking" should have its own thread.

Today I tried a dried bean soup base with dried veggies that I bought when it was too hot but now that it is cold outside, soup seemed a good idea. It is so salty. Do I simply toss it or throw a tbsp in a homemade veggie soup for flavouring?

Isn't the trick that you throw a potato into the soup and let it absorb the extra salt? Does that work?

[rosarugosa]

DH and I are of partially Italian descent via our maternal grandmothers. We would be of the opinion that sugar doesn't belong in tomato sauce/gravy.