Salt is not the evil it's portrayed to be. Just use it in moderation, says Hugo Arnold
I'm addicted to salt. We seem to be besieged by daily warnings on our salt intake, but there I am, delving into the packet for the crystals. How can you cook without salt? It is difficult, if not impossible. The great majority of the excess salt we consume comes from processed foods. Where bags of crisps and ready-meals were once treats, they have now become part of our daily diet. Time to ditch the packets and concentrate on freshly prepared ingredients.
And if you do, there are other benefits. Herbs, for example, are a way of seasoning which reduces reliance on salt. Finely chopped rosemary tossed with roast potatoes, along with a clove or 12 of garlic, will require far less salt to draw out the flavour. Prior to roasting a chicken, tuck thyme in under the skin, as well as in the cavity, along with a little salt. You simply don't need quite so much salt, as the herbs aid the seasoning. Seasoning is also helped by judicious use of acids such as vinegar and lemon juice. The zest of the lemon, too, will add zip.
In the past aubergine was salted to remove the bitterness, but I'm no longer quite so sure this really was the reason. If you salt sliced aubergine, it helps to tenderise it though a process of osmosis. Moisture is initially drawn out of the vegetable, but when you rinse off the resulting saline solution, some moisture is drawn back in when you cook it. Or so the theory goes. I'm driven by the end result, which is more consistently delicious if salting precedes the cooking.
So enthusiastic am I about this whole idea I am now brining meat for up to several days before cooking it. The result is a more complex, meaty flavour. My inspiration has come from the excellent Zuni Café Cookbook by Judy Rodgers, an establishment in San Francisco which is on my wish list to visit if I ever make it to the west coast of the US.