Allegory wrote:
gbaji wrote:
And that's just what happens when you put it on your tongue.
If you want to claim dissolving salt as the sole chemical process, then I'll grant you that. Most of the way salt interacts with food is physical, through osmosis.
I pointed out that it is "a" chemical process. I was disproving the claim that there was no chemical reaction involved with salt at all. I only need to point clearly to one chemical reaction to disprove that. I am, by no means, saying this is the "sole chemical process" possible with salt.
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The articles' points about salt masking other flavors is ****. Yes, if you cover something in another flavor that is stronger, you will no longer taste the unpleasant flavor. The unpleasant flavor is just as much there as before, but being overwhelmed by something else. Yes, if I cover broccoli in salt it will taste less bitter, because it will taste more like salt. It will also taste less bitter if I smother in it honey, sriracha sauces, or lemon juice. It will in fact correspondingly taste a lot like honey, sriracha sauce, or lemon.
You're free to believe this if you want, but nearly every single food expert on the planet disagrees with you. You'll have to forgive me if I go with them being right and you probably being wrong.
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The points about salt making chicken taste, finger quotes, "chickeny" and more "balanced" are just utter ********* That isn't an objective, measurable thing.
We're describing "taste", which is already well into being subjective. But even things that are subjective can be measured statistically, and that's what all of these food experts are basing their claims on. It's something that can be empirically tested. Blindfold someone and feed them something. Ask them what it tastes like. Give them the same thing, with salt added, ask them what it tastes like. Change when/where the salt is added. Ask them what it tastes like. It's not like no one has ever done this before. It's not like all of these food experts are just guessing here. They're basing their claims on long history of exactly these sorts of "subjective" tests and results.
Given that their field is largely driven by whether most eater's subjective taste of their food is positive or negative, it's a good bet that they have at least a decent idea of what combinations of ingredients and cooking methods will maximize the positive results while minimizing the negative. And all of these claims are based on observations of those results over time. Even if we can't perfectly describe the exact chemical reactions going on behind the scene, we can still measure the perceived results and make claims in the form of "doing X to Y will cause Z". And yeah, in this case, we can say pretty accurately how adding salt to various foods at different stages of cooking will affect the perception of the flavor of the food when eaten. That's a pretty easy trial and error correlation issue, and the field of cooking has had a heck of a long time to do that.
