delia and salt

[red]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7328594.stm

[Super.Niki]

ew... personally I think she's gone downhill.... would much prefer to cook (most of) my meals from as scratch as possible, I know what goes in them then!

[MKG]

Well - puttanesca presto says it all, doesn't it.

[Silver Ether]

This was on the tele this morning .... She isnt doing anything that a lot of folks do anyway, she's just making money at the same time... ... but I would not eat the muck ... I will stick to the one old book of hers that I have and the ever faithfull Mrs Beetons ...

I had a disgusting meal on Saturday it could have been one of hers ... We usually eat out on Sat lunch and this pub was vile not only was it poorly good generally but the fish pie I had was fowl ... hardly any fish, no parsley and the only flavour was salt in the packet mash that was on top... my lips and tongue shriveled... Gasp... glad to get home and cook some mussles ...

Going back to the salt thing I think as a nation we use far to much salt ... The number of times I see folks put salt on without tasting first and the amount ... I don't use salt in cooking at all and the only salt I add is in home made soups... and even then very little ... whats wrong with tasing the carrots and beans

[Super.Niki]

... whats wrong with tasting the carrots and beans

some carrots and beans taste sooo different... I mean when I've run out of carrots and need one or 2 for a recipe I nip down the local shop, bite my toung and plonk em in my basket... but when they get delivered in my vegbox the difference n taste is amazing! Saying that... I've never put salt on carrots?

PS Silver Ether.... Mrs. Beeton is a legend. I've got lots of her books and she's amazing!!

[MKG]

I wanna know more about the fish pie cooked with fowl ...

[the.fee.fairy]

I'd rather cook from scratch too.

I can only imagine how orrible those recipes must taste!


The thing is, as a nation, we're losing our tastebuds! I used to work as a drinks taster, so i'm a bit biased because i'm trained to taste the primary tastes (salt, sugar, bitter, sour and Umami), but there's nothing worse than food swimming in one particular taste. look at things like Vindaloo: i know its suppused to be hot, but if you turned the heat down a bit, it would be really tasty, but because of the lack of tastebuds, people are not realising this. Its the same with salt, sugar and a myriad of other ingredients. One taste does not a nice thing make. Many tastes carefully in balance are much nicer.

[ina]

I wanna know more about the fish pie cooked with fowl ...

These things don't get picked up by the spell check!

[contadina]

I too never used salt in cooking as I'd learned how bad it is for you and I like to cook healthy meals. Since living in Italy, however, I've began to use it in all savoury dishes like the Italians do. When used correctly, salt really brings the flavour of food out and both myself and my husband have noticed that dishes we used to cook salt-less taste much better. It's not salt we're tasting it's the individual flavours of the dish and how well they work together.

Personally I think the salt is bad for you message is aimed at those who eat a lot of processed food, which is packed with it and therefore, does not need an extra shake of the salt-shaker. I don't eat any processed food and have healthy blood pressure so I'm going to continue to add salt to my cooking and to check the seasoning to check it is right.

[maggienetball]

Too much salt IS bad for you. Whether in processed food or added to food ourselves.

I agree that salt can "bring out" the flavour of food and that one of the (many) dangers in processed food is that we don't know how much salt we are actually consuming.

Extra salt is given in hospital to people with low blood pressure to help raise it.

Excess salt can do lots of organ damage and give raised blood pressure.

People from different cultural backgrounds have differing tolerances to ingredients. Cultures that have, for generations, used high salt in their diet are less inclined to suffer the effects than those who aren't.

Everything in moderation eh?

[contadina]

Common sense tells you that too much of anything is bad for you. If you smother every dish with too much salt then you are overdoing it and it will taste pants.

Owing to constant salt warning messages I never used any. Now that I do, I'm pleased to report that my blood pressure hasn't changed an iota and my husbands has actually lowered. He used to eat a lot of processed foods but now has none.

[MKG]

Hmmm ... and common sense should also tell us that too little of something which is necessary is equally bad. We all need salt - not too much, but enough.

MaggieNetBall said that too much salt is bad for us, and that is so true. But a knee-jerk reaction which cuts out salt completely is equally bad. You need, as illustrated by animals at salt licks, as much salt as ... well ... you need. I've found that it isn't enough to say that "a good diet means that you're getting enough salt". The beginnings of cramp is the indicator I use.

Don't throw salt away entirely - you'll suffer.

[Ellendra]

Thank you MKG, I was almost afraid to say my bit here.

I have this digestive problem where I don't absorb minerals very well, and in my research on my condition I actually discovered that I need to avoid low-salt diets.

Try telling that to the "Salt Is Evil" crowd!

Sodium is a necessary electrolite, essential for properly functioning cells. I've gone without it and suffered the cramps and heat exhaustion that salt protects against.

To make things more interesting, I also have to avoid too much fiber, and eat extra protein, especially meats. I've heard more food sermons than you could imagine!

[red]

the problem with processed food, is often they make up for the lack of flavour with salt. Salt also turns up in unexpected items, so if you were trying to cut back. makes it all the harder.