Lena B Katz wrote:
>
> On Tue, 13 Jan 2004, Bob Pastorio wrote:
>
> A bit more or less of most ingredients
>>won't materially affect the dish. Like everybody's Aunt Minnie cooks
>>by the handful and it still works.
>
> hence why most recipes call for "kosher salt" when they want a different
> grind...

As far as I'm concerned, kosher salt is an affectation unnecessary for
virtually all recipes. It's bigger chunks of salt than table salt.
NaCl. That's all. Different brands are different-sized. Some have
anti-caking agents, some don't. All sound and fury...

> ... unfortunately, you failed to mention that salt has other uses, other
> than "tasting salty" just like red peppers have other uses (and effects on
> the body) other than "being hot." From the way you wrote, I would assume
> that you asked people if the cake "tasted salty" and not "did this cake
> taste more flavorful than your last piece."

Godfrey Daniel on a crutch. I didn't mention that salt has other
functions because it wasn't a freakin treatise on salt and all it's
applications and properties. It was about salted butter and unsalted
butter and how they worked in the specific cakes. We weren't doing
research for publication, it was a family gathering.

My daughter and I asked if the cakes tasted any different from each
other, and if they did, what was the difference. When *everybody* said
"No difference" we then told them why we asked. Since it was a family
group, it was informal and ran over two days as people came and went.

> OTOH, having tastetested colored gelatin (with surprising results), i
> realize that people don't know what their taste buds tell them, anywhoo.

How, um, interesting.

Pastorio