Salt

Salt - a white crystalline substance which gives seawater it's characteristic taste and is used for seasoning or preserving food.

Above is a definition I found online. It is a limited definition but not a bad starting point. Salt is massively important in the making of good food. Sure there is a lot of negative press on the health problems relating to a diet too high in salt  but that doesn't mean we should be leaving it out of our cooking altogether. That would be disastrous. Anyone who's ever worked up a sweat knows that sweat is salty. I remember reading some time back that a town, I think in eastern Europe which was home to a salt mill and a high consumption of salt had none of the side effects of the medical problems relating to it. The reason given was the working in the salt mill was hard physical labour and as such the workers sweated out the salt they consumed. Makes sense then that the answer to consuming too much salt is simply to work hard and sweat in back out again.

Now onto how to get the most out of salt. Next time you buy meat at the shops for dinner, as soon as you get home season the meat before putting it away for later use. Be generous with you seasoning, you will be rewarded. In the case of, for example, a steak for the barbecue, season both sides either the day before or if you only have a couple of hours that will still have a positive impact on your end product. When dealing with larger cuts of meat season even earlier, maybe 48 hours in advance. I assume you are not a robot and will be blindly following instructions, so why are we doing this? What are the benefits? Can't I just season my meat at the table?

By seasoning early you will get more tender meats. Significantly more tender. The earlier you season the more time you give for the salt to break down the meat and give the meat a juicier more succulent result to your nights cooking. I guess the next thing to think about is what to season with? I would suggest that if you are making an Asian dish, then season with soy sauce and let it works it's magic. If you are looking at a dish which would normally require fish sauce, for example, a Thai curry or stir fry then fish sauce would be my choice of seasoning.

I have only recently happened onto this significant improvement to my cooking via a book called "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" by Samin Nosrat. I grabbed the Audiobook on my Audible account and was immediately impressed by the results after seasoning a Pork medallion for the barbecue at home. Pork as many would already be aware can be quite lean and prone to drying out when cooking, but the results of even a couple of hours salt marinating brought a juicy tender cut where previously that result has always been a battle.

Anyway, time to run. Enjoy your cooking, be in touch soon.