Hacker News Reader

Comment by 3pt14159 | Hacker News Reader

Sort of an aside here, but salt and MSG should be used to increase the tastiness of otherwise bland foods, like asparagus, so that what you eat is more in line with what your body needs, rather than what is the most tasty in our post-industrial world. That is how I use salt: reduce starches and refined grains, and increase vegetables, lentils, and the like. Sure I still have some bread and a normal amount of meat (at least by Canadian standards), but I prefer to make healthy foods delicious.

View on HN

We might also want to think about _why_ some foods taste bland. I feel that I'd never really tasted what a tomato tastes like until I had some at a monastery in Greece.

I was surprised to see tomatoes sitting out at dinner, seemingly to be eaten as-is along with the meal. I bit into one and it had a flavor unlike any tomato I've ever had in the USA. I could finally understand that a tomato is a fruit! It was nicely sweet with no bitterness and no discernible acidity.

In the USA when we ship stuff across the country, gassing it to stop it from ripening, and then gassing it again to cause it to ripen again -- all the while eating things mostly out of season -- it's no wonder that our foods taste bland!

I started eating vegetables without salt many years ago, and once I got used to it, they don't taste bland to me at all. Even the regular grocery store ones. Of course, if you get homegrown organic ones, they are way better - but even the grocery store ones still have a lot of taste, unless your taste is ruined by years of training it that vegetables should taste like salt. I actually hate when more than a trace of salt is added to the vegetable salad - then only thing I can taste is the salt, it overwhelms everything else.

The other part of it is that if your body is used to a high calorie diet with lots of sugar and fat, vegetables are going to taste bad no matter how good they are. And if you're eating healthfully, then even supermarket vegetables will taste reasonably good.

That's true. I remember when I stayed in Japan for a while, initially I found the food underwhelming. It turns out that good 'ol Japanese homecooking isn't designed for the American palate, which is accustomed to lots of sugar, fat, and calories. After a month, though, I loved the food and tasted all sorts of subtle flavors in the vegetables.

Once I came back to America, I found that food here was overwhelming my tastebuds. In particular, I remember trying to drink some Pepsi. It tasted like I was drinking pure sugar (well, I guess that's what it really is). I couldn't even finish it or any other kind of soda. Now I'm able to drink stuff like that again, but that's probably not an improvement. :)

My parents grew tomatoes in their garden every summer here in the US. I've been eating tomatoes like that since I was a child. Sliced, as a side, in the summer, with a little salt and pepper. I only do this when they are homegrown though.

just FYI, in the pre-industrial world of my home town you can still go picking up wild asparagus[1] which are _far_ from bland, I have no idea if those exist in any form where you live but I strongly advice you to try them out if you can.

[1] stuff like this http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__88ZCQ5jRIs/Sju4DrHvsZI/AAAAAAAAg1...

That looks amazing, but wouldn't you season it? A little olive oil and salt then throw it on the grill for a minute?

well, I would, but then again I seldom put health before taste I'm afraid.

(though in this case, seasoning them with lemon+olive oil after boiling _is_ the most traditional recipe and reasonably good for your body I think)

> salt and MSG should be used to increase the tastiness of otherwise bland foods, like asparagus

False. Asparagus (like many vegetables) should be roasted with garlic in a little bit of oil.

Heh. I never boil 'em, always grilled on the Barby or roasted in the oven and garlic is delicious.

Asparagus is wonderful for many reasons, but one of them is the range of textures and tastes different cooking methods can impart.

Grilling kicks off charring on the outer skin (not Maillard reactions to my knowledge - no amino acids - but something similar), and gives a wonderful gradient of textures between the skin and the soft, liquid core.

Microwaving (yes, really - NYT had an article about microwaving vegetables a couple of years ago, pointing out it's an excellent way to cook most veg) gives crisp, even spears with no toughness but plenty of crunch and a superb retention of pure flavour.

Frying with garlic is probably the best way to introduce other flavours that will complement the main spear, IMO, and also leans toward the softer texture of grilling.

Boiling has its place too - I avoided it for many years before becoming curious as to why blanching is still used in most top-end restaurants. It's very fast, it produces a softer spear than steam or microwave, if you time a cold water bath right it'll give you a brilliantly green stalk, and it gives nearly as clear a taste as microwaving. Plus, it's a good way to introduce the tiniest bit of salt - which acts as a flavour enhancer.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com