Just the right amount of salt, however, brings flavors sparkling to life. Forget the gourmet spice racks and the secret marinades and exotic sauces. No cook worth his salt needs anything more to make magic in the kitchen.
Many recipes give precise measurements for every ingredient except salt and pepper.
They merely say, Season to taste, and the cook is left to her own devices at this most critical stage. Salting is an instinct, that subjective quality that makes an art of the science of cooking, and the ultimate success of the dish literally depends on the cook s taste and her ability to find that perfect balance. She must know not only how much salt to add, but when to add it. It s getting complicated out there on the grocery shelves. All salt is formed of crystals of sodium chloride, but some is made from evaporated seawater, some is mined, and they go through different levels of processing.