Learning to Eat

Pierre Koffmann, now retired but one of the great chefs of the latter part of the 20th century, once said that the difference between a good and a great chef, was a pinch of salt. He was right in that the amount of salt is often the difference in the way a dish tastes. Too little and it can be insipid and too much and it can be over-bearing.

Another of the great chefs of the same period, Nico Ladenis, once banned salt and pepper pots on his restaurant tables because he didn’t trust the customers to know how one of his dishes should taste. They needed to trust him that he knew. He was also right — to a degree. Guests rebelled, obviously and the story made the newspapers but it also highlighted an important point: the chef is the arbiter of how something should taste and often salt is the key component.