A hankering for salt….

Salt — it may be my favourite flavouring. There i’ve said it.

We detect five tastes when we eat — sweet, sour, bitter, umami and salt through taste, texture, temperature and smell. Our taste buds are formed from a combination of cells and reside within the tiny bumps on our tongue although curiously we also have taste buds in our throat and stomach. Certain receptor cells residing in these buds contain proteins that bind to chemicals within our food and other receptor cells react to these chemicals. Both actions eliciting assorted responses dependant on the receptor type encountered. The responses the taste buds perceive are transmitted along neural pathways to the brain where it is able to expose several flavours simultaneously and de-code the differing concentration levels of each taste. Smell is vital to our taste sensation so as we prepare to or as we eat, the compounds released from food are deciphered by the body’s olfactory system. Heat and pepper or chillis can activate particular proteins creating reactions in our bodies as does texture. These melded elements determine how we experience food and therefore the extent of our gratification.

Over the years as I absorbed myself in the porn of my cookbooks, I used to feel torn. I relished the taste of salt but felt verbally berated as I learnt that using salt to flavour a dish was cheating or simplistic. Worse than that was the constant drum beat of salt is bad for your health; cut down on salt or life will be short and miserable. Ok, so you can read this and think is she crazy? Why is this important. But if as for me, food and cooking is one of your pillars of sanity, you’ll understand this frustrated feeling of inadequacy.

So I’ve been delighted that a perusal of recent articles has vindicated my hankering. Salt I have been educated — is an important aspect of our fare, enabling flavours to be made noticeable and vibrant. In an article for The Independent, Jacob Kennedy, Head chef of Bocca di Lupo in London was quoted as saying that ‘correct seasoning to a chef, is as much salt as you can possibly get into the dish without it tasting too salty’. Salt seems to suppress bitter tastes and some how builds out the roundness of very sweet dishes — hence that sprinkle of salt in a cake. A friend who ran a pop up restaurant confided in me that her main exasperation in having dinner at friends was the deficiency of salt — which unfortunately caused her to attribute blandness to the unsuspecting hosts. And I thought I was judgey!

Some say, our bodies have evolved to savour salt because the sodium it contains is necessary for many of the body’s biological processes such as transmitting nerve impulses, maintaining a balance of fluid (blood pressure) and contributing to control of muscle movements. But it seems we really aren’t sure why we can crave as much salt as we do especially as we only require minuscule amounts to survive. But the body demands salt for these actions; particularly when de-hydrated. If you have a heavy hangover from the previous night, chances are you will end up over-salting your food.

Numerous magazine articles explore how to reduce our consumption to remain problem free. Ingeniously the Japanese have invented a fork that gives your tongue an electric shock as you consume so as to stimulate a salt flavour which I suppose is one way of diminishing intake if slightly weird. On the British Heart Foundation website they mention that a gene has been discovered that can limit the urge for salt so turning this down could be the future.

But oh how boring! Who hasn’t savoured the chippy tradition of soaking your fish and chips in salt and vinegar until the paper wrapping is dripping through? Who hasn’t shamelessly licked the foil of a salt and vinegar crisp bag once the crisps are gone…ohhh…only me?

The re-shaping effect salt has had on civilisation was an eye opener. Many commodities have influenced the out-turn of society and power but salt seems to have had quite an extensive impact. It was one of the most traded commodities at one point; used as money in some regions. The Egyptians were the first to realise it had preservation abilities, even packing the Mummies with salt as they floated down the Nile. In the 18th Century according to a Time article, at a banquet you were ranked by how close you sat in relation to the salt on the table, such was its importance in trade and availability.

In Roman times, salt was a hugely valuable commodity and was called ‘white gold’. Apparently the reason for this was the demand for salt as a preservative for meat and fish in a time when it was very expensive to mine. Given it’s worth, there is a story (though I’m not sure it has been verified) that the Roman legions were paid monthly in salt which was called a ’Salarium’, ‘ al’ being the Latin name for salt. Apparently this is the basis for the English word — salary.

Salt taxes and production have been the cause of many conflicts over the ages. The salt tax (The gabelle) has been sited as a cause of the French Revolution. In India during colonial times only the British were allowed to produce and benefit from salt production for which Mahatma Gandhi undertook a protest march for 23 days. In China, wars were fought over control of salt reserves.

So when you next consider this innocuous flavouring, don’t feel deficient. Think generously about how salt is seeped in history, that we are obeying our nature in its consumption. It deserves to be applied proudly; confidently. And if you do follow my advice, the word bland will never enter your house again…..