Sugar and Salt

Often times, I will complain that restaurant food is too salt for my palate while many other people complain that it is too bland.  There are tremendous amounts of hidden salt and sugars in pre prepared and processed foods which is why I started reading labels and cooking from scratch many years ago.  My Dad was a diabetic with high blood pressure from the time I started cooking as a teenager.  I started altering recipes at about age 20 when I could see the toll it was taking.

So often, what we perceive as moisture or richness is just fat.  Now I don't think we need to remove fat from our diets.  Quite the contrary, good fat is very beneficial.  I cook mostly with olive oil.  I like the flavor and it is beneficial.  However, there are things that just taste better in butter.  I say then, use butter.  Do not make it a daily habit.  It is a well deserved treat.  When I was younger, I would make pies with my Grandma Utesch, using lard.  They were delicious but not so healthy.  Substitute the latest version of Crisco which virtually eliminates partially hydrogenated vegetable oil and you can replicate the texture if not the taste of lard.

Salt is insidious though.  I mostly cook with coarse textured Kosher salt.  However, salt is an ingredient in most prepare armed foods.  You have to be careful.  If you use canned tomatoes, you probably do not need to add salt.  If you fix a box of macaroni and cheese, definitely skip the salt.  It is already included in abundance.  Worcestershire Sauce, fish sauce and soy sauce are naturally salty.  Think about it before you add any additional salt.

If you think your cooking is bland, consider adding basil, oregano, paprika, Cheyenne pepper, Tabasco sauce, then think about salt.  If our sweet things are bland, consider vanilla, lemons and almonds first. Then add more sugar.

Have a clean palate before you taste.  Keep an open mind.  The best flavors in this world are not sugar or salt.

Love the food you eat.