A couple weeks ago when Chef Mike and I were waiting in the hall to do a presentation to the AntiCancer group at Concord Hospital, we struck up an interesting conversation. I have the opportunity to hang out with Mike occasionally when we are working together on classes or cooking demos, and it’s fun to learn from him.
We were outside the room with our cook table ready to go, and I looked at a jar of sea salt. I proudly told Chef Mike that I don’t cook with salt and let people salt their food as needed at the table. I have always heard that salt is “bad” and we get too much of it in our diets. In many ways I’m a typical consumer and believe things that I hear.
I was pretty surprised by Mike’s response. He told me that he would fire me if I worked in his kitchen and made that statement about salt! Those of you who have met Chef Mike know that at times he can be direct. I on the other hand, I completely appreciate his honesty and wanted to hear more! I said to him, “Well, it’s a good thing I don’t work for you, but will you tell me more about salt then?” Chef Mike went on to tell me that people (including me) are misled about salt. Salt is what gives food a good flavor, and in the case of most meat, it is critical in cooking meat properly. Salting things before or during the cooking process brings out flavor and helps meat retain moisture. When meat is salted before cooking, it brings juices to the surface. When the meat is cooked those juices create the browning that we all like. The brown or seared surface traps moisture in.
In summary, here is Mike’s message about salt: Use salt for flavor in your food! When we salt things at the table, it just makes food taste salty. When it’s cooked in, it makes food flavorful. That makes a lot of sense to me, but you decide.
The role that salted food plays in our health has become a controversial topic. Conventional wisdom says to reduce salt, especially if you have hypertension. However, a growing group of experts and studies suggest that modest amounts of salt added to homemade food has much less of a negative impact, if any, on cardiovascular health compared to processed food jacked up with a variety of manufactured sodium substances. Of course, if you know you are salt-sensitive, you may want to go lightly.
As for what kind of salt to use, we all know that there are many kinds to choose from. Consider sea salt (with or without added iodine), kosher salt, grey salt, pink salt, Himilayan, Celtic, and the list goes on. Chef Mike says simply, “kosher.” So, consider taking your salt shaker off the table and putting it near the stove. When salt is used properly, your foods should be plenty flavorful, and you won’t need to reach for the shaker. It’s up to you to experiment with how much to use. Let me know what you think, and how you use salt!
In health,
Audrey
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