Salt and pepper and vinegar

The ability to salt food properly is the single most important skill in cooking. When new cooks start at the restaurant, this is one of the first things I try to convey. Salt is the primary seasoning ingredient we use. It heightens the flavor of everything across the board, no matter what you’re doing—even some sweets. Without it, the flavor of meats and vegetables and fruits is a little flat, dead, fade, as they say in France—insipid. Salt opens up flavors, makes them sparkle.