Exhibits, Shows and Displays

Why do they always add salt&pepper on cooking shows?

I've noticed on Food Network channel, the cooks always need to add salt&pepper. When I cook, I just add salt but no pepper, is pepper mandatory to bring out the salt flavor? The thing is, even when they add mayonnaise and other sauces, they still need to add salt...isn't their enough salt in the sauces to begin with? What's wrong with these cooks?

Public Comments

1. you're an idiot... salt and peeper are an essential ingredient in cooking... thats just how it is
2. I use salt when I cook but I don't believe I use as much as on cooking shows. Especially when they cook pasta. They put an awful lot of salt in the water. To flavor it. Isn't that why you have sauce or cheese on it? When I cook I use kosher salt. I like the flavor much better than table salt. My mother never used salt when she baked but I do. But I use unsalted butter and she always used margarine, which contains salt. When I bake I do use table salt. I think I use less salt than I used to. I seem to notice the saltiness more than I used to. I really prefer to use all kinds of spices to intensify flavor rather than just salt.
3. IMO many foods do require a little or a lot of salt, depending upon quantity, but can get by without pepper. I think both tomatoes and eggs require some pepper, ground black pepper on tomatoes, and powdered brown pepper on eggs.
4. These are typical seasonings and one is not meant to enhance the other. They work tandem. There is nothing 'wrong' with these cooks. To be truthful, more salt than you think actually lends to better flavor to a dish. You will learn this as a cook - there is of course a limit to too much salt and it comes in forms as stock or bullion rather than just dumping straight salt into a dish. I like a lot of pepper, but I know a lot of people don't like it that much however, they may be eating a dish with a lot of fresh pepper and not know it because it is fresh. You just need to TASTE TASTE TASTE as you cook. Salt and pepper can make a difference, especially to the American palette.
5. i think they are just trying to appeal to the general public. half of their recipes to me don't even look good if i use pepper, i use it out of the container, not some fancy smancy pepper mill. it really irritates me as well seeing them use all kinds of glass containers. when you cook, you hands get slippery from grease, washing etc. i would NEVER use glass. one wrong move and it's smashed. if i find it necessary to flavor with salt and pepper i will, but very sparingly. some people like more salt, while others don't or can't eat it. btw, adding salt to the water for pasta increases its boiling point, makes it boil faster. like what, a whole two seconds faster? LOLOL with some pasta's i will add a dab of olive oil to the water to prevent sticking, like with lasagna noodles, otherwise, i just boil it "au natural" HA
6. to add some flavor :D it makes it taste better and it makes the taste of food stronger ^_^
7. What a lot of people don't understand is that adding salt when cooking things like pasta, noodles or potatoes reduces the need for salt later in the recipe or in the sauce. Seasoning is best done in "layers" and if each ingredient is properly seasoned, you need less adjusting of the seasoning at the end where it actually does little good and you end up using a lot more to get even close. There is nothing wrong with these chefs/cooks. They understand basic food science and how proper seasoning improves the entire dish. That's the biggest problem with home cooks. Unless someone has a real health problem, proper seasoning of food will not add to it. You're far better off to knock off the prepackaged, ready made foods which have a ton of salt in them to preserve freshness and to make them taste better with their crappy ingredients and make your own. The best case in point is salad dressings. If making a vinaigrette at home, you might put in 1/2 tsp. of salt. The bottled stuff probably has 3 teaspoons if not more!