I was a fan of the show and decided to read the book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking. My first favorite thing about the book - the author's exuberant personality shines through. That was the reason I loved the show. Not every cook is able to communicate their passion for the inner universe of salt quite like Nosrat. I was eager to see what she says of salt in her book - an ingredient I have had a complex relationship with over the years. When younger, I had frequently missed the mark by a few grains too little. I also had this deep connection to my maternal grandmother's cooking - she liked her food a little bland to many people's taste but it defined perfection to mine.
While others at the table would sprinkle table salt on the food she had cooked, I never felt the need. To me that was destroying the fine balance of her work. It was as if her and I understood the magic of that taste and it somehow escaped everyone else. I think I strove to achieve that quality, that degree of saltiness that so defined her cooking. But I felt just a tiny bit short and disappointed myself - a feeling that only intensified after she passed on. A decade later, I find that most days, if I am paying attention, I can get my food to taste like hers - the salt is where it needs to be. While it defines perfection for me, others find it a bit bland. I can sense the tiniest twinge of disappointment at the table when I serve my food. For them I am seven grains short - like my grandma used to be. Nosrat says of salt:
I can’t prescribe precise amounts of salt for blanching water for a few reasons: I don’t know what size your pot is, how much water you’re using, how much food you’re blanching, or what type of salt you’re using. All of these variables will dictate how much salt to use, and even they may change each time you cook. Instead, season your cooking water until it’s as salty as the sea (or more accurately, your memory of the sea.
I love how she invokes the memory of the sea and its briny taste as a guide to getting salt right in the kitchen. My grandmother was the master of such imprecision. Would needed to understand the feeling she was going after not so much the measure of things.
I figured out that when I seasoned chickens for the spit, it should look like a light snowstorm had fallen over the butchering table. It was only with repetition and practice that I found these landmarks.
Comments