I'm sick of dishes coming out of restaurant kitchens that were salted for the lowest common denominator. I'm sick of carrying around a little snuff box full of Maldon. I'm especially sick of how bland almost every soup I get in a restaurant is.

So please, salt it the way you know it should be salted.

When my ex was going through culinary school, there was a meal prep at the end of the first semester that the students did for the head chefs. The chefs came in and put salt shakers on the table, exclaiming that the newbies never used enough of it and that they were in for a bland meal.

Sure enough, one of the biggest criticisms of the new kids was their use of (or lack thereof) salt. It's tricky - you can't take it out once its in, and there really is a small window until it becomes "salty."

However, it does amaze me how much i need to salt stuff from amateur cooks who are just afraid to use it confidently.

I really think the chef should season all food as he/she sees fit. They are the ones back there prepping food day in day out - they probably had some kind of input regarding what they are offering - and it's their job.

Most of the time i can imagine that this would work out well for most people. I think that, as a diner, if you're easily prone to thinking something is overly salted, its your responsibility to tell the server "easy on the salt." Its not the chef's responsibility to alter his/her preps by telepathically receiving the consumer's requests and it's quite arrogant, imo, that some people feel as if it should be salted to the lowest common denominator.

Personally, you should ease up on the salt, ecpecially in gravies and soups. There are any number of other spices and seasonings that can be added to give flavor to soups. Personally, I have reviewed studies on both sides of the hypertension issue, some espousing lower sodium. My take is that it is almost impossible NOT to get adequate sodium. Salt can be added at the time of service should the patron want it.

Nothing can truly substitute proper kosher salt use. I lived with a NO SODIUM roommate for a couple years, we ate many meals together. You're right - there is other stuff out there and it can be really great. But, it's an alternative, not a substitute.

Also, hypertension has nothing to do with how much a chef should salt his/her food. If someone is hypertensive, it's their responsibility to request food the way it should be prepared or simply eat at home. You don't see chefs also reminding people to take their BP meds do you? Your health is your responsibility.

So, long winded, but yes - i am on the "salt it as you see fit" side of things.

angrychefmike,

I think you got the response that could be expected on a board where people love food, respect restaurants, and spend a fair amount of time thinking about both - salt as you see fit.

Personally, I agree with them. But I think the public at large may not necessarily agree. Back to your original question, I see it a bit differently than you do. The two choices you mention - salt as you see fit vs. leaving food undersalted to be finished by patrons - are not the only ones available.

I think this is fundamentally a communication issue. Of course the chef should season to his palette without any moderating input from the customer. The problem is that I think most patrons do not think to make special salt requests.

This could be indicative of my wider range of salt tolerance, but I have never thought to specify salt content when ordering a dish. I also don't frequently dine with anyone who has thought to have a conversation about salt with the server. (And that is not to say I don't regularly experience dietary restriction conversations; I grew up with one family member who was on a very low fat diet for health reasons and had extensive conversations with servers regarding this.)

Dmnkly wrote:Firmly in the "please, please season as you see fit" camp. Your patrons don't control the amount of any of the other ingredients that go into their dish... why should salt be any different?

Dom, I have to disagree with the second half of your statement. Patrons often make special requests as to the make-up of their dish. These requests should be honored or the customer should be politely told that it is not feasible to accommodate them. The customer should and does have control over controllable items. Salt falls into this category.

I think that A) people are used to specifying the doneness of red meat or asking for asparagus (for example) to be left out of a dish, but they are not used to specifying salt OR that B) people are restricting themselves when ordering in consideration of their own salt sensitivity and write off dishes that sound too salty without asking about a different preparation OR C) people with salt sensitivity just 'give up' when going out and don't think they have any control to continue to eat low-sodium. And C does not imply that they won't complain later.

This seems like a communication issue. And one that you can easily test.

Pick your best server. Have him/her invite the patron if they have special requests as to the salt content of their dish and he/she will do his/her best to accommodate them. If they patron does make a request, have them ask about it when they inquire about the food. Do this for a few shifts. Gauge the results.

My guess is that if people were more conscious of the ability to specify salt content, then they would speak up more often and there would be less dissatisfaction.

gastro gnome wrote:

Dmnkly wrote:Firmly in the "please, please season as you see fit" camp. Your patrons don't control the amount of any of the other ingredients that go into their dish... why should salt be any different?

Dom, I have to disagree with the second half of your statement. Patrons often make special requests as to the make-up of their dish. These requests should be honored or the customer should be politely told that it is not feasible to accommodate them. The customer should and does have control over controllable items. Salt falls into this category.

I need to clarify... I didn't mean that the kitchen shouldn't honor requests if feasible, including going easy on the salt (although, of course, we all know there are those who take this to stupid extremes)... I just meant that if I order a salad with an herbed vinaigrette, my salad isn't served with an army of bottles and dishes of oil, vinegar, lemon juice, minced shallot, mustard and freshly chopped herbs, to say nothing of the salad's components themselves. The amount of any of these ingredients could impact my enjoyment of the dish just as much as salt, and the proportions in which I'd prefer them are no less personal, yet nobody considers it arrogance on the part of the chef not to set them on the table for my own personal doctoring. If the dressing is a little flat for your tastes, you can ask for some vinegar, but if there isn't a salt shaker on the table, the chef is an arrogant asshole? Presuming how much oil, vinegar, lemon juice, shallot, mustard, herbs, greens, onions and tomatoes you'll best enjoy is humble service, but doing the same with salt is arrogance? It's a completely arbitrary and, in my opinion, ridiculous standard.

Though there's a difference between no salt shaker on the table, and the refusal to bring one on request, which was my understanding of the place in Atlanta. That's arrogance.

My issue is that I don't know where I stand in the salt world. Am I marching to the rhythm of my own salt shaker, or is it just that places I go to aren't salting correctly? (Considering that we never eat at high-end places, this may well be true, as I'm often eating the fruits of people with less training - and it isn't consistent enough that I can say unequivocally that it's me.) I agree, if I know ahead of time that I'm not going to enjoy a dish because it's too salty, shame on me for not saying so.

I think the salt shaker on the table discussion and the question of arrogance is an interesting sidebar. I think the OP was asking about salting in the kitchen and how most people would react to it.

To take this thread as a metaphor, angrychefmike sent out his post like a dish in a restaurant. Some patrons thought the dish was complete and responded to the question as originally phrased. Some patrons wondered why an ingredient was left off and added a discussion of the ability of customers to adjust their own seasoning.

Because this is a dialogue, these patrons got to add what they wanted to the original post and the discussion branched out. Had this been a monologue (and if kitchen-salting was left up to a chef's best guess or premonition), some people would be dissatisfied.

Why can't ordering in restaurants be more like discussions on LTH Forum?

Thus my argument above for an ordering dialogue on the subject of salt.


Edited to correct OP's name

Dmnkly wrote:...if I order a salad with an herbed vinaigrette, my salad isn't served with an army of bottles and dishes of oil, vinegar, lemon juice, minced shallot, mustard and freshly chopped herbs, to say nothing of the salad's components themselves. The amount of any of these ingredients could impact my enjoyment of the dish just as much as salt, and the proportions in which I'd prefer them are no less personal, yet nobody considers it arrogance on the part of the chef not to set them on the table for my own personal doctoring. If the dressing is a little flat for your tastes, you can ask for some vinegar, but if there isn't a salt shaker on the table, the chef is an arrogant asshole?

The logic of this analogy I find hard to fault...and therefore the reason I don't reach the same conclusion as you must have more to do with tradition than logic. It has been a culinary tradition for centuries in the Western world to have salt and pepper on the table. (Some food scholar will probably point out that salt and pepper have routinely been on tables only since 1954, but until then, I'm going to go with my centuries assumption.) So when this custom is breached, a message is being sent. That message being "my food is perfect." Which smacks, yes, of arrogance, and also--more to the point--a profound lack of trust in the customer's discretion. (After all, if the food really is perfect as it comes from the kitchen, the customer will simply leave the salt and pepper shakers on the table alone, no harm done.) If minced shallots had routinely been on Western tabletops for centuries, we might feel the same way about those going missing, but they haven't, so we don't.

riddlemay wrote: ... (After all, if the food really is perfect as it comes from the kitchen, the customer will simply leave the salt and pepper shakers on the table alone, no harm done.) ...

But then on the other side are the many people who, without trying the food that is perfect from the kitchen, will salt and pepper and the harm is done.

Because my dad had high blood pressure, my mom didn't cook with much salt and we didn't have salt and pepper shakers out on the table. I am more relaxed now about using them myself, but I still think it's odd (and disrespectful of the cook) when someone adds salt and/or pepper to food before even tasting. But I realize that for many people it's just a habit.

I say you as the chef or cook should salt the food you prepare to your taste. People can always add more if they want to, for taste or habit's sake. Of all the restaurant reviews and comments you've read in your life, do you remember anyone ever criticizing the food for being too salty?

No salt on the table = Arrogance

Salting the food before tasting it = Ignorance

OK, so I guess I'm salt sensitive

Went to The Bristol, said "I know the chef sprinkles salt chunks over the dishes, so please, tell them not to do that - go really light on the salt please!" and I watched the waiter write it down. So when I got my main course, what did I bite into the very first forkfull? Huge chunks of Kosher salt. So I sent it back. They made another one up, and it was fine. The waiter apologized profusely, and said he had told the kitchen, and I said I know, I saw you write it down. We decided it must be some sort of automatic response - finish the dish, toss the salt over it. He comped us one of our appetizers, which really wasn't necessary, but was quite nice. They do have salt and pepper on the tables, also.

My solution to undersalted dishes: