Kitchen Lessons · Little Kitchen Lessons
Why Salt Matters
The short answer
Used well, salt doesn't make food taste salty — it makes food taste more like itself. It's the biggest lever you have, and under-salting is the most common reason home cooking falls flat.
What salt actually does
Salt quiets bitterness and lifts the natural flavors already in the food. A properly salted dish doesn't taste of salt — it just tastes right.
Season in layers
Add a little at each stage rather than a big pinch at the end. Seasoning as you go builds flavor all the way through instead of sitting on the surface.
Gina's tip
When something tastes like it's “missing something,” try a pinch of salt before anything else. Nine times out of ten, that was it.