A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich - Is Salt A Spice?

Episode Date: May 18, 2022

Salt isn't a spice... OR IS IT?! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This, this, this, this is Mythical. If I could be any spice girl, I'd be salty spice. But Nicole, salt isn't a spice. Or is it? This is A Hot Dog is a Sandwich. Ketchup is a smoothie. Yeah, I put ice in my cereal, so what? That makes no sense. A hot dog is a sandwich.

A hot dog is a sandwich. What? Welcome to our podcast, A Hot Dog is a Sandwich, the show where we break down the world's biggest food debates. I'm your host, Nicole Handizadeh. Wow, that was my old last name. Whoa, someone's having an identity crisis. And I'm your host, Josh Scherr. We're rolling with that take, Nicole. Oh my goodness.

You've forsaken your husband's name. I haven't done that in so long. It's still your Twitter your Twitter at. Yeah, it's my Twitter at and then it's also all my names on my legal documents because Have you still not changed your name? There's like a big issue where the rabbi wrote my last

name where the date is and signed it in the wrong spot. So legally I'm not married. Legally you are the host of the podcast Nicole Hendy Zadeh. But I am spiritually married. That's beautiful. I love host of the podcast, Nicole Hendy Zadeh. But I am spiritually married. That's beautiful. I love that. Nicole, today we're talking about salt.

This is a weird one for me. I love salt. I love salt, too. Salt is the best. Oh, my God. You love salt? I love salt. But no, this is weird for me because the other day I was making casual small talk with one

of Julia's friends. They were like, what are you doing at work on Monday? And I was like, well, we're doing a fun little podcast. And they're saying, is salt a spice? And she was like, well, we're doing a fun little podcast and we're saying, is salt a spice? And she was like, wait, are there people that don't think salt is a spice? And I was like,

wait, are there people that do think salt is a spice? I don't know. Is salt a spice? Well, I like to think salt is a seasoning. Yeah. Okay.

So that's the thing that a chef once told me. Cause we were, we were working a catering event and when people say like season your meat or whatever, some people think that to means salt and pepper. No. I don't. But that's the thing. Like, a lot of people think that salt and pepper are ubiquitous and go together, hence the term salt and pepper.

Yeah. You know what I mean? But, you know, one thing Sammy Nostradt, who is an incredible, incredible chef, said is salt is its own flavor. Pepper is its own flavor. They don't always need to hang out with each other. But, like, everything is also its own flavor peppers its own flavor they don't always need to hang out with each other but like everything is also its own flavor you know i mean salt to me is like i i there's some quote that i bastardize all the time that isn't actually the actual quote some like monk in the 1500s like the cook or something uh i read it in the jeffrey steingarten book the man

who ate everything any whom it's like salt is the baseline from which all flavor harmonies are written, right? Like salt is the thing. No. Salt is the thing. Have you ever heard of a salt-free rub, Josh? Yes, and dude, they suck. Salt-free rubs are the worst. Have you heard of Mrs. Dash? Mrs. Dash has been plaguing American households.

I respect to those with heart conditions who need to eat a low-sodium diet, which is mainly I'm referring to V's dad. We see you out there. You're out there working, doing the crossfit. But you know, you got to be around to see your daughter, get married. Anywho. Got dark real quick. We love you, Mr. Austin.

We do. Especially because the first time I met him, he said that he was like, dang, Josh is kind of swole. I've always wanted to meet V's parents. They seem like good people. They're great people. But anyways, I have a lot of respect for people who need to eat a low sodium diet. However, the food does not taste as good because salt is like the main thing. If you want

to get better at cooking, the best thing you can do is learn how to master your salt levels. That's one thing that I've noticed about being a cook. Like the way that I season my food is very different from how other people season it from like a home cook, because also they're probably using iodized salt and that kind of changes it a little bit that's the whole thing iodized salt is is a whole different deal yeah so recently at home i i always use uh diamond kosher salt is like the industry standard i use kroger yeah i we we started using kroger like coarse ground kosher salt in the kitchen like a long time ago. And now that's become our thing. But the biggest thing, like all salt to me is roughly the same.

Iodized salt does taste different. I believe it tastes actively worse. And also it's saltier. Well, it's finer ground on the salt. And also when you pinch it, you don't get as fine of a control. That's true. But like the reason iodized salt exists was very important at the time. Correct. Yes, yes.

Because it was what? It was in Michigan in the 1920s. There were a lot of people that had goiter issues, which is a lack of iodine in the diet. It messes with your thyroid's ability to produce. I'm not going to pretend to be a doctor here. No, but you're right. It was a goiter issue.

Yeah, people were having goiters in Michigan. And I guess there was a program in Switzerland that was adding iodine to common foods the same way we say fortified milk with vitamin D. Or water with calcium for your tea. Or water with calcium. Was it fluoride in the water? Oh, I said calcium. It's fluoride, not calcium, right? Yeah, something teeth are made out of. So they started doing that with iodine and salt, and even though it made the salt taste like a little bit less good or whatever, the goiter rates dropped from like 30 percent to 2 percent. It was at least the figure that I saw in one study. Which is awesome.

And so that's like a great public health thing. However, goiters are like not a large problem at all in modern society. And also people get 75 to 90 percent of their salt intake via processed foods now. Oh, good. And they are predominantly good, I guess. I don't know. Listen, we're not going to make health claims over here. I love me a good DiGiorno rising crust pizza.

Don't get me started on processed foods, honey. I love a good processed meat. I still haven't had their croissant crust pizza, and that's a damn shame. Let's get it. We'll get it for you. Happy birthday. The point is they don't use iodized salt in processed foods.

So it's not even that big of an issue. So yeah, like kosher salt is the way to go. But otherwise, like I don't taste a lot of a difference in salt. If you're talking pink Himalayan sea salt. Really? I feel like I can maybe. Well, also, I used to do chocolate tastings back in the day. Oh, yeah, yeah.

And we would pair them with specific salts. Like what? I don't know. Maybe it was a gimmick. I don't know. It was definitely a gimmick. Maybe. I don't know. It was definitely a gimmick. Maybe. I don't know.

All those fancy. You're selling fancy chocolate to rich ladies in the Beverly Hills. You're trying to trick them, dude. You're trying to trick them. And I respect that. But like Maldon salt has a different crystalline composition to like pink salt to like, I don't know, other salt. Celtic gray sea salt.

That's my personal favorite. Oh, cell grease. Cell grease. I love cell grease. I don't know if any of the salts actually taste better in a side-by-side taste test but i think i think they do i think they do also know also know when i'm at the fogo de chow when i'm at the fogo de chow and that dude brings around the meats and he's slicing it off with a giant sword in front of me and i just paid 45 for an all-you-can-eat

brazilian meat buffet yeah and this dude's talking about the gray sea salt that they use i'm tasting the difference because i paid 45 so i want to taste the difference. I think it's, I don't know. I do think different salts have different flavor components, but what I do want to specify, Josh, is to clarify the difference between what an herb is, what a spice is, what a seasoning is, and where salt falls into that category. Let's give people something to think about. Okay. So let's think about salt in terms of it being a spice. Salt is a mineral, right? It's a rock that exists.

It's a chemical. It is sodium chloride. NACL. Oh, Maggie, you're a scientist. NACL, baby. I know, but is it chloride? I'm a part of the NACL football. That's right.

That's right. No, so salt's just like a rock that exists. Are there any other spices that are just like a mineral? Yes. What spices would also be a mineral? I mean, kalanamak is salt. Well, yeah, no, that's what I'm saying. Tell people about the kalanamak. Kalanamak is like a sulfur tasting. I think it's sulfurized salt, I'm guessing. Yeah. Is it black salt? Yeah, it's black black salt but it has like a sulfury taste which is used a lot of vegans use it to make any tasting a vegan or vegetarian recipe can use it in place of eggs i find it pretty horrifying tasting i love it do you really

i think it's an interesting it's interesting you know since my background with like all of these like cool spices and stuff that i learned when i was younger i it has its merits yeah you know it has there's a point to it. Yeah, definitely. I mean, if something exists, there's likely a point to it. Yeah. One thing that tripped me up that I was thinking about is when I think of a spice, like what part of a plant do you think of when you think of like spice?

You go to the spice rack. Seeds. Dude, same here, right? Yeah. Like I think of you have like- Roots, roots. Coriander, which is, coriander is cilantro seed. You got celery seed. You have mustard seed. You have peppers on a seed. Fennel. They're cilantro seed. You got celery seed.

You have mustard seed. You have peppers on a seed. They're a berry. Fennel seed. You have fennel seed. You have caraway. That's a seed. But then like if you think of a lot of other spices, it's just like it's random.

It's barks. Barks and roots. It's barks. Cinnamon. Cinnamon's a bark. They peel it off of a tree. Ginger's a root. Ginger's a root.

You grind that up into a powder. Onion. Onion's a bulb. Bulb. An allium. An allium. Onion powder. That's absolutely a tree. Ginger's a root. Ginger's a root. You grind that up into a powder. Onion. Onion's a bulb. Bulb. An allium. Onion powder. That's absolutely a spice. Garlic powder.

Paprika's just bell pepper powder. We talked about that. But when does it become an herb? Well, herbs are an actual botanical classification, whereas spice isn't. Okay. Like an herb is a, God, it's like a leaf that does not have any woodsy quality. There are certain things like technically celery belongs to the herb family via something, something.

That's the thing that a botanist would tell you when you're going through the same person that would say watermelon is a berry because technically- Or bananas are a berry. Exactly. That person might be likely to say that celery is also a herb even though we use celery as a vegetable. Well, it makes sense.

Like in a bouquet garni, a lot of the times people put celery leaves in the bouquet garni. I love using celery is also an herb, even though we use celery as a vegetable. Well, it makes sense. Like in a bouquet garni, a lot of the times people put celery leaves in the bouquet garni. I love using celery leaf as an herb. I feel like celery leaf is an herb, but then you get the actual plant. I don't know. Yeah. But that said, like, dried oregano. Do you consider that like a spice? Because it's no meaningfully... Do I?

I think I might use herbs and spices interchangeably, just personally. KFC? Do you know who KFC follows on Twitter, Nicole? You? They follow five people named Herb. No, they follow six people named Herb and the five Spice Girls. So together, Nicole, they follow 11 herbs and spices. That's incredible.

Genius marketing, KFC. I love KFC. Okay, so spices out there, they're barks, they're seeds, they're, sumac is a berry. Peppers are probably a berry, right? Yeah. Peppers are literally a berry. Yes, peppercorn berry. But then like herbs are just one type of leaf, I suppose.

What other herbs out there don't fit to like the leaf category? Like chive? Chives are like a, we're about to expose ourselves as being dumb. No, I think we're human. We're not dumb, we're human. It's like a they're an allium we're about to expose ourselves as being dumb no I think I think we're human we're not dumb we're human it's like a grass or something

it's like a little grass tube I think chives are alliums what about scallions which fall into scallions are alliums which fall into the root but don't you use chives as

an herb chives are like the best fresh herb if you take chives away from me as an herb Nicole my omelette game is going to suffer aren't chives herbs I think chives I think Nicole, my omelet game is going to suffer.

Are chives herbs? I think chives. I think they straddle. That podcast is going to get all the clicks. I think they straddle. They straddle the herb line? Between herb and spice. Ooh, I'm a refreshing little pungent grassy bite over here. Am I an alley?

Am I a herb? Your turn, baby. I do love a nice leafy herb. But see, once you dry it, isn't it like a spice now? That's, hold on. I think that's important. I think, wait, no, this is good. This is good.

We're getting somewhere. Okay. All spices must be dried. Do we agree with that? Because think about onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, ginger root. Okay. What about like curry pastes? Are those not spices?

So curry paste is a spice blend, right? That's a whole thing. But it's not dried because you add red stuff to it. Dude, we got it. We got it. Okay. pastes are those spices so curry paste is a spice blend right that's a whole thing oh you're talking about dried what do you do we got it we got it okay so i'm literally i'm reading a book right now by lizzie calling him who's my favorite might be pronounced calling him because she's british okay it was like my favorite food historian okay she wrote that big old book about world war ii food that i keep not shutting up about um finish that one boy oh man it gets gets messy on the pacific theater uh but she also wrote a book called curry, A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors.

That literally goes through the entire very confusing, sordid, colonial history of what curry means. So when you say curry paste, what country are you imagining? My brain is immediately going to Thailand. Because in Thailand, that's not curry. It's called gaeng. Gaeng. Gaeng is a dish that has existed for forever in

Thailand, but then when they needed to market it to the whites, they were just like, yo, they already know what curry is. It's like a spicy liquid of spices and herbs and whatever. We'll just start calling this curry. And so like that is a mixture of several herbs, roots, spices. You'll have galangal in there along with coriander and chilies. And so when you even get like curry powder in the store, right?

Yes. Curry powder is not a spice. Curry powder is a spice blend. It's like saying Tony Sashry's is a spice. It's a spice blend. That's a delicious spice blend, same as curry powder. It's a blend of probably six, seven different things at the very least, depending on what brand you're getting.

Okay. What about like salt and what about sugar? Like where do those fall into the terms of like spices or spice blends or seasonings or are they even like... Yeah, because if you're calling something a spice blend, it's got salt and sugar in it, as does Tawny Sashary's. Does curry have salt? Does it need sugar too?

Does it need it? Most commercial curry powders don't have salt or sugar in them, I believe. You're supposed to like... It's like a Kool-Aid pack. Are you for real? Like you gotta add your own sugar. I always thought curry powder was so salty. No, at least the ones that I buy don't.

I have to add my own salt. Look at that. Yeah, no, I know what you mean though. If you're getting like a spice blend that has salt and sugar in it, I don't think, I think they're implying that the spices are blended and we've added salt and sugar for your convenience.

Yes, yes, yes. But the only part of the spice blend that are spices are the spices. I sound insane right now. This is a very confusing topic. I'm picking up what you're putting down. But I will say this. Maybe salt is none of these things.

Maybe, Josh. That's what I'm saying. I think salt exists on an outer plane. Maybe it's a condiment. What the? Get out of here. Get out of town, Nicole. Leave.

I can't. I don't have a ride. Can you order me an Uber? Just an Uber. I know. Yeah. Yeah. Nicole, leave. I can't. I don't have a ride. Can you order me an Uber? I don't know what you had to do. I know this is the whole thing. I got pickpocketed, for anybody who's wondering. I was at a bar, and someone just stole a phone out of my pocket. And that was a great time for me.

So that's what Nicole was riffing on. And I had to beg people on the street for an Uber home. So some fantastically generous person out there you have my no i didn't go home i went to another person's address so whoever's address is in your phone not mine that's a good friend if you want to stalk and kill them um anywho i'm sorry for laughing at you it's just you never you know you don't realize how much you rely on your phone until you're just like stranded in west hollywood We are really connected to our phones. Like if we lose our phones, we're good.

The worst thing is I would have walked. It's like three miles and I'm like, whatever. I'm large and I'm athletic. I can walk. I just don't know how to get home without my phone. I don't even know which direction to go. Oh, I could have gotten you home. South?

Like I don't know where the North Star is. There's so much pollution in LA. I can't see Polaris. You don't know where the North Star is? I need to take you to a camp. Yeah, I'm really good at constellations. I dropped out of Cub Scouts. I'm really good at constellations and Jeopardy.

What about, like, dehydrated cheddar powder? Is that a spice? Because sometimes we use it as one. I think it's an herb and spice. What do you mean it's an herb and spice? It's a spurb. The hell's cheddar and herb?

It's a heiss. What did you say, spurb? It's a spurb or a heiss. Don't say spurb. Is that a bad word? Well, what's our spurb count? Is spurb a bad word? It sounds like a bad word.

Do I need to bleep it? No. I think salt is a condiment. You want to know why I think salt is a condiment? I would love to know why you think salt is a bad word. Do I need to bleep it? No. I think salt is a condiment. You want to know why I think salt is a condiment? I would love to know why you think salt is a condiment. Because everything tastes better with sauces on it, right? Yeah, true. Okay, and what is a sauce if not a wet solid, right?

A wet solid. Okay, sorry. I'm trying to track right now. I'm trying to. right now I'm trying to What is it? A sauce is a wet solid Go ahead What is a sauce?

No no What is salt But dry sauce? You're saying that What's Nicole The only sauce That dries

And turns into salt Is ocean water I know And that's actually How you make it Which is convenient I thought it's rainwater No dude Rainwater isn't salty Even Maggie's shaking is convenient. I thought it's rainwater. No, dude.

Rainwater isn't salty. Even Maggie's shaking her head. Isn't salt made from rainwater? No, salt is made from ocean water. It's all sea salt. And then any mineral deposits where you have giant salt deposits were from the sea at one point. All salt comes from the sea. I'm so stupid.

I was all time. Do you think people are just collecting rainwater and dehydrating and getting salt? Have you ever tasted rainwater? It's been a long time. Did you think you had to? Nicole, where do you think the water just collecting rainwater and dehydrating and getting... Have you ever tasted rainwater? It's been a long time. Did you think you had... Nicole, where do you think the water that we drink comes from? It comes from the mountains and it melts. I remember the water cycle.

Yeah, Ricky Raindrop. You had Ricky Raindrop? No, I didn't have Ricky Raindrop. He was like a super cool raindrop. Let me get back to sauces are wet solids, okay? So let me just say, food's always better with sauce. And then whenever you add something to it, like salt, salt is like, it's like enhancing the flavor of the food you're eating.

Yeah. Yeah. As a condiment. No condiments, condiments don't get cooked. Condiments. You don't cook with condiments. You do not cook with condiments. Of course you can.

You do not. No, no. Condiments need to go directly onto cooked food. That's what makes it a condiment as opposed to- When's the last time you put ketchup into a food, like barbecue sauce? I did, but in that moment. Oh, you watched me. You watched me stir fry spaghetti napolitan, the Japanese dish.

Yeah. Stir fry the spaghetti right in. Yeah. Right in with the ketchup. So where does your argument lie? The ketchup ceases to be a condiment in that application. What is it then? Ketchup is no longer.

Ketchup is merely an ingredient, Nicole. It's a seasoning. It's a seasoning. It's a longer. Ketchup is merely an ingredient. It's a seasoning. It's a seasoning. It's a seasoning. It's a seasoning sauce. Just like Maggie, Hugo Sazon on the water, which literally means

seasoning sauce. And we love that little bottle of black chemicals. If you don't know Maggie sauce. Maggie's really good. Bro, get the Maggie. There's a chemical called, speaking of salt,

there's a lot of very similar products to NACL table salt that are very delicious as in like monosodium glutamate or disodium inosinate, which is what gives Maggie's sauce that real pungent meat flap. So good. God, it's so good.

It's really delicious. It wakes your food up. I think more Americans need to cook with these like cool sauces like brownings and Maggie's and Worcestershire sauce and fish sauce. Like you guys need to start cooking with that stuff, man. Like people don't even realize how popular Worcestershire is in a lot of other cultures. Yeah. When I was in Mexico recently, they call it salsa ingles, which I think is really hilarious.

It makes sense. Because we call anything from Mexico just salsa. And they're like, yo, we got the English sauce right here. It's just weird, funky brown liquid. Yeah. But yeah, so like, when you say salt is a condiment, to me, that implies that salt is merely something to add on to your food after it's cooked, which some people do. Yeah, there's a lot of chefs that say like don't season until the last minute.

Which I hate. I hate that. I hate that. Why? I disagree. I disagree too. I want to know why you disagree. I am so sick of getting crunchy, flaky salt on top of my food at restaurants.

Yeah. What an incredibly privileged thing for me to say right now. I'm sick of going to the nice restaurants where they put the good salt on top of my food at restaurants. Yeah. This is what an incredibly privileged thing for me to say right now. I'm sick of going to the nice restaurants where they put the good salt on it. But no, I think when you get like a little crunchy rock of salt, I'm just like, dude, no, just season your food properly. And then I don't need to be crunching through even like on a chocolate chip cookie where they got the big flakes of malt on there. No, no, no, no, no, no.

I don't want to do it. No. Are you kidding me? It's like it's like a filling fell out. I'm crunching through a filling. Oh, no. Are you kidding me? It's like a filling fell out. I'm crunching through a filling. Josh, you just have post-traumatic tooth disorder. I really do.

I got to work on that. I love crunchy sea salt on top of... I love finishing salts. Okay. I agree with what Josh says, but I also love finishing salts. I'm a whore for finishing salts.

Jesus Christ. That was aggressive. Oh, my God. I have like 18 jars of finishing salts in my... What do you... What's the last time you used a finishing salt on? Years ago.

And I just moved in. I just think they're cool to have. Like, I just think they're beautiful and they're different colors and you can just talk about it. It's a cool conversation piece. I just think it's a super foodie like thing to do. Yeah, it is. It is a super foodie thing to do, which is why somebody like gifted me finishing salts once. And it was like one had like mango peel or something.

I know mango skins are poisonous, but they had like mango dehydrated in there or something. And I like tried using them cooking and I was like, I hate these. And I threw them all away. Yeah. I don't like them. That said, salt is not a spice because salt is an inorganic mineral. It is a rock that exists and also salt is contained within a lot of vegetables itself right like which one tomato tomato has natural salt in it yeah dude

why am i learning google that because i feel like it does like like tomatoes have sugar in it right via like fructose or whatever tomatoes have salt them. Salt is like literally the soul of food. Salt is what gives food its life. Contains sodium. Fresh tomatoes don't contain. Oh, they contain sodium. They don't contain salt. Okay.

So we, salt is the main way in which we consume sodium. Right. But it doesn't have like, yeah, like NACL table salt in there. So I'm saying though, like salt or at least sodium exists in a lot of other things. Because like I said, it's that like baseline. salt or at least sodium exists in a lot of other things because like i said it's that like baseline like if you want to taste a spice don't just put that spice in your hand and lick it crush it express it crush it and then mix it with salt oh no do you not do that no why wouldn't you i don't need to you're but you're going to taste it like that in the dish but i don't i just don't

do that but you should why what's the because that's how it's going to taste on food i mean i mean i don't know i just kind of express it between my fingers and i eat it but then it like doesn't you don't get the full range of taste because it's like it goes back to like nicole sports theory you practice like you play okay you know what i mean that's how i view tasting things like seasonings i'll always put a little bit of salt in my hand. Interesting. And then I'll express the seasoning into the salt like an allspice or something like that. I was doing that the other day for whatever reason.

That's so interesting. Or Chinese five spice, you know, because I was like, I want to see how this is going to react in a salty solution. That's so cool. I've never seen you do that. Yeah. But I definitely will take your word for it. That's awesome. So that's what I say.

Like there's no spice that acts in any similar manner to salt. The only similarity is that you put it on your food to make it taste good, which is everything. Okay. Think about your tongue. Is it your tongue like broken up into five different flavors? Well, they say there's like five dimensions of taste, right? Salt, sugar, bitterness, sourness, and umami. Umami.

So, right? And then some argue that there should be a sixth taste for fat oh yeah which also means like satiety but then some people say that fat is merely a vehicle for the other tastes yeah i think there's a point there but like now we start to get into it where it's well sugar what's sugar then if if salt is none of these, what is sugar? Well, so sugar is like, it's funny because if you, like, we're looking at a literal tongue map right now. Which I don't think the tongue map's like that, that real. But no, there are like five tastes. It's not?

And I'm saying if salt is like so important, right, that it has a whole taste to it. There's no like all spice part of the tongue map, you know? Yeah. There's no Ceylon cinnamon part of the tongue map. Do you love me some Ceylon cinnamon? Ooh, it's a little fruity, a little dusty. But no, like salt and then sugar is, God. This is so hard for us.

Like normally we're like on top of it and like we're like rapid firing, but this is like really working the brain cause. This does get really confusing because like. Working the brain this does get really confusing because like in the brain cause because like anything we consider a spice is just something that is sold in a little jar in yeah the spice yeah area of your grocery store you go to the you go to the spice market yeah and so like like lemon pepper is a spice mrs thash is a spice a little thing of rosemary screw it why not i know it's an herb but you dried it and put it in a dash. It's a spice. A little thing of rosemary. Screw it. Why not? I know it's an herb, but you dried it and put it in a little jar. It's a spice. And you ground it for me.

Saffron, Nicole, is the stamen of a crocus flower. Does that make it an herb? I don't think so. I think it's a spice. I think anything dried and put into a little jar, that's a spice. Vanilla, that's a spice. Yeah. I don't care.

Salt isn't a spice. Vanilla is a seed. Yeah, it's a seed pod, but like so many- Which is a spice. Yes, I'm saying. Yeah, you're right. It's't a spice vanilla is a seed yeah it's a seed pod but like so many spice yes i'm saying yeah it's just a spice cacao cocoa powder that's a spice i'll put it in a dry rub that's a spice oh yeah right yeah no you're right so what is salt salt is not a spice because it is it i think it has to be living it has to be living that has to be an organic organic no salt's not alive salt's a rock if you if you had a pet salt rock that would make it alive because then you imbue it with your special powers like a jewish golem yeah yeah you know you imbue it with like numerology and it has

special powers in it uh but no i think because yeah salt is a mineral uh therefore cannot be certified organic create any organic matter that is ground and put into a little jar or like a little baggie or something, the baggies are cheaper and then you buy your own jars. Any of that to make your food taste different, that is indeed a spice. That's how I believe. Also, also, Nicole, I have other things to say. What? Unless I can take a breath if you want to say something.

No, no, you talk, man. You passionate man. Okay, so there's something that's like very fascinating to me where we all learned this growing up that the spice trade in the Middle Ages and whatnot was so important because meat spoiled so quickly and people needed to make it taste better. That's what I thought, yes. And then there's some historians that kind of were like, yo, that doesn't actually make sense because a majority of the world ate a vegetarian diet back then and meat was mostly for the rich people. majority of the world ate a vegetarian diet back then and meat was mostly for the rich people uh and they didn't have to worry about meat spoilage because income inequality was so crazy via like feudalism and whatnot that like if you could afford meat you could afford to eat it fresh uh and so some people are like people spices were so expensive because they were cool and fun

daddy i'm bored what okay i have one more thing to say i have one more thing to say about the importance of spices nicole one more. No, I was saying it like... Oh, like you were a Victorian girl? Go colonize another land for me and get cinnamon. No, that's it. Stacey's daddy got cinnamon. I want cinnamon. I mean, that's the importance of clothing dye too, right?

Indigo, all that stuff. People are like, I'm bored. We've specialized our skills via the agricultural revolution for the last couple thousand years. And now we got some extra time on our hands. Let's make our clothes pretty. That's what I want to happen to the world now. I want us to be so bored because of automation and technology that we get to invent cool things. That's like, what do you think Etsy shops are?

Yeah. That's what it is. Yeah, I like that. I'm into it. I want more people to do it. I agree with that. Bring on the robots, do all our jobs, and then just like pay me money to, I don't know, I'll get into dubstep beatboxing.

No, we don't need to make money at that point. Well, yeah. Universal. Post money. We're going to go back to trading spices. Nicole's going to start hoarding saffron. Hunt together. And the interesting thing, Nicole, about spices though, so someone did a study.

I was reading about this right before we came on here. Someone did this study where I'm fascinated by you were talking about like, Daddy, I'm bored. Go colonize another country. The British, they like, you know, spent so much time and spilled so much blood to find spices across the world. And they decided they didn't like any of them. That's so whack. I think it's an Eddie Izzard joke that I'm slightly plagiarizing.

But like you look at tropical climates, they tend to use more spices than non-tropical climates. And I was reading a study that hypothesized the reason is to prevent meat spoilage. But I was like, that doesn't make sense

because salt prevents meat spoilage, right? Maybe it's to trick the mind. Like corned beef. So that's what I thought it was. That's what we learned growing up in school that it's well, it just made it taste better. Turns out a lot of spices, including like dried onion and dried garlic, and they were using the term spice very liberally, have very strong antimicrobial properties. Well, look at that.

And so garlic and onion especially were very solid in preventing meat spoilage. So they analyzed all of these cookbooks and all of these recipes from even within the same country. You find Southern Chinese recipes on average have more spices by quantity in them than Northern Chinese recipes, which is to me really fascinating. And there could be another reason for it. But that was like a really cool thing to me because I always thought that like spices were just for funsies. Yeah.

You know, just part of culture. Of course. That was like, we want to find new things to tease our mouths. That's what I thought too. But that's so interesting. Yeah. A lot of antimicrobial. And I know garlic did because I once had a toothache and I was looking up natural remedies

because I didn't want to go to the dentist. It always comes back to my teeth. And then I once had garlic and so I just took a raw garlic clove and rubbed it all over my tooth and gums. And then not only was I in pain, I also reeked of garlic and didn't work. But that said, data would support the fact that it's antimicrobial. Yeah. Also, that's how Stanley Yelnats got Hector Zeroni to eat that peach's stuff

because it had onions to preserve it. This is the movie or book Holes by Louis Saffar. Yeah. I've never seen it. Really good movie. Yeah. I don't know. I've never read it, never seen it. Do you want to come over and watch Holes by Louis Saffar. Yeah. I've never seen it. Really good movie. Yeah, I don't know. I've never read it, never seen it, but I know. Do you want to come over and watch Holes?

You've never invited me over before. No, you have. I just rebuffed. I just, I don't know. I don't know if I'm ready for Shabbat. It's just been so long. Can you just come over and watch Holes with me and David? Yeah.

You've never, do you know the song that goes, digging up uh-ohs? You're going to have to sing it louder. Nicole, I'm sorry. Can you sing that louder and kind of put a little bit more emphasis into your body movements when you do that? I'm so embarrassed. No, it's fine.

Digging up uh-ohs. Are those words or is it just scatting? Was that just digging up uh-ohs? Digging up uh-ohs. Digging up uh-ohs. Okay. If you enunciated more, that would really help. But they don't enunciate in the song.

Well, I know, but I'm just saying if it would help me as a first-time viewer. Digging uh-uh holes. Can you do one more time, but really this time, but your soul into it? I'm crying because I'm so embarrassed. You don't have to. I'm not going to do it. But I think what I learned today is that salt is its own thing. Yeah. It's its own category. And salt is also the most important, single most important ingredient you can have in your kitchen

whatsoever. Yeah. And I understand if people are worried about high salt intake, like you're more likely to get that via processed food. So like when you're cooking, salt the hell out of it, make it taste as good as possible. Make it taste good. Make it taste good. Salt tastes really good. Yeah. And then any spice you want to add to that, like you need to get your salt levels right first, but then you add the spice into that and that's what really makes it sing.

Yeah. Wow. Also read cookbooks by Nick Sharma. Dude's a master of spice. Got a great book called Taste. Check out Nick Sharma's work. Josh, we've heard what you and I have to say. Now it's time to find out what other wacky ideas are rattling around out there in the Twitterverse.

It's time for a segment we call... Opinions are like casseroles! Make it leave the whole part of me scatting. I'm going to get sued episode of Seinfeld in here. It's awesome. That was just. Okay. Yeah, I'm going to get sued by the Seinfeld estate. He doesn't need any more money. Larry David, he's coming for you.

Oh, God. Oh, he would ruin me in an argument. Josh, do you like food? God, Nicole, I love food. Do you like finding out the best food you can buy at grocery stores? That's literally all I care about. You should visit Spork.com. I do. And I care about. You should visit Spork.com. I do.

And the people listening, you should visit Spork.com. This is more for you than me. Yeah, but Josh is like my segue. It's a great website. You get to read amazing articles by people like Justine and Jordan and Danny, who are amazing, amazing writers. Speaking of Danny Palumbo, he's got a new banger out. I've actually known Danny from the food writing scene in LA, but he's also a stand-up comic. He's funny. Yeah, Danny rules. He wrote about popcorn. He has

a theory that everybody has a secret popcorn fetish. Secret? And that it is your way to express your deepest, darkest food desires, and you can do that by being as just sick and twisted as you want with it, like me when I put jalapeno juice in it. I'm gonna read it. Yeah, yeah. It's good stuff. I have a a question what if you like to eat popcorn every single day

i don't think that's a that's like a like a a popcorn addiction at that point well no not if you if you like to do it every day like there's there's some couples that i know that you know like it's it's just a healthy part of their i gotta talk to some and then and then some other people i'm just like listen i got i got stuff to do. I can't, you know. Every day. Every day. That's like a bit much. Like, I don't know.

Sometimes I just like to watch a movie. Without popcorn? I'm kind of lying down. Without popcorn? Are we talking about popcorn still? All right, so here we go.

First up, we got, these are a couple IRL opinion casseroles that have been sourced by Maggie from Mythical Crew Members, but this is some real stuff.

So this is from Lucas Mad Dog the... Lucas Mad Dog Hedges. Salt can be used as a condiment and a seasoning just because it's one doesn't make the other all the... He wrote this too philosophically. Salt can be used as a condiment and a seasoning. Everybody at the lunch table

was dead wrong and they know it. The context is Lucas was arguing that a salt is as much a condiment as a hot sauce. Yep. I agree with him. Yeah, I don't know if I negated my current thoughts with what I said 10 minutes ago.

You did. I know, but I do believe that salt in this specific context is a condiment. You literally cussed me out because I called salt a condiment, you jerk. And listen, I regret that.

I have a lot of regrets, Nicole. You literally embarrassed me in front of the class. I'm sorry. What do you want me to do? You want me to beg? You want me to get down on my knees and wash your feet as a gesture of supplication? My feet need to be washed.

With rose water. If anyone's feet need to be washed, it's my feet. With rose water, preferably. Sounds lovely. The other day, my feet were smelling on the couch, and I just rubbed deodorant on them. I took a stick of deodorant. You're so disgusting. I know.

Well, no, I would have been disgusting if I let my feet smell, but I didn't. Why didn't you wash them? That was what everybody watching me do it. And again, there were three people in my apartment at the time said they're like, just wash your feet in the shower. And I said, no, I don't want them to be wet. I just deal with it. It's going to smell like Old Spice. That's so weird.

Is Old Spice a spice? It is to me. All right. Chappy, fellow Mythical Crew member, said, Salt grinders make no sense. Salt is a rock, and you aren't making it any fresher by grinding it fresh like you do for pepper. Yep, Chappy's right. Yeah, there's never any doubt.

Chappy is genuinely, generally, always right. Very smart. Yeah, we trust Chappy's opinions. Chappy, this is a very astute culinary opinion, and we're proud of you. Chappy, if you're listening, come on the pot all right next up we got at giraffe and one half grew up eating pb and j's and chicken noodle soup i'd always dip my sandwich into the soup but i found out very recently as an adult that that is not normal um yeah it's not normal it's not normal but have you done that no i never ate the two together. I didn't either.

Yeah. I'm guessing they're probably talking about like Campbell's chicken noodle soup. Yeah. You know, like the real kind of bare bones stuff. Sure. Where speaking of salt's use in preserving things, the chicken bits in Campbell's. They're pickled. They're pickled.

It's corned chicken. Yeah. It's incredible. It's what it is. Oh, you know what we didn't talk about in the podcast? Why kosher salt is called kosher salt. Oh, it's called kosher salt because when you give people kosher meat, it has to be drained of all the blood and the salt drains the blood. Yeah.

And that's why it's called kosher salt. And that was like the particular like type was the most common for the koshering process. That's correct. Also, we didn't talk about corned beef and why it's called corned beef. Well, we have a podcast called Corned Beef vs. Pastrami coming out very soon. Bam, bam, bam. Listen to that one. I actually forgot.

That was a good goal. No problem. Dr. Dunst says, okay, hear me out. If any opinion starts with that, it's probably going to be really good. I once made a liver and onions quesadilla

as a joke, but it turned out fire. Bacon, liver, onions, spinach, and gouda cheese between two tortillas. I encourage you to try it if you like liver. Well, I love liver and you eating it as a joke is not a joke.

It's not funny, and I'm not laughing. Me gusta quesadilla con higos y cebolla. Higos? No, higo. Higo? H-I-G-O is liver? I don't know. And hongo is mushroom.

Anyways. It's gigar in Farsi. Really? Gigar, yeah. I've never had a liver and onions quesadilla. I want one.illa I want one and I want one so I want this more

than anything right now I know I want this too but I want there to be no bacon and no spinach in it I want pure onion and liver flavor don't obscure the flavor of the liver with the bacon

I grew up eating that was one of the few things my dad like cooked from scratch it was like a hunk of beef liver with bacon and onions I like chicken livers more than beef liver

I do too and I feel like in a quesadilla chicken liver would probably work a little bit better. Oh, yum. This sounds so good. Dr. Dunt, good show. Yeah. Good show.

I was going to say good show, man, but here's the thing, Nicole. The doctor was the boy's mother. The Dr. Dunt. Can I tell you something? I knew you were going to say that. And I'm so glad you did. Here we go.

At Simon Heath 81, Gruyere and mustard topped croutons. Wait, what? Make the best pie did. Here we go. At SimonHeath81, Gruyere and mustard-topped croutons. Wait, what? Make the best pie crust. Oh, okay. Gruyere and mustard-topped croutons make the best pie crust slash crasseral topper. They've linked to a photo. Opinions are like crasseral. Crasseral.

Oh, yeah. They linked to a photo of, like, a really dank-looking. Oh, my God. Okay. So, he's talking about, like, a top pie crust. Yeah. As in, like like a chicken pot situation.

Gruyere mustard. Great combination. I love putting croutons on the top of like casseroles. I've never done that. You know what I mean? It's a very. I don't make many casseroles though.

It's a bit of a boomer. It's a bit of a boomer move. Sure. In the way that I think boomers made very hearty comforting foods. Yes. You know. Agreed.

Without pretense to them. Agreed. And this is a very non-pretentious, very delicious move that I would really like to eat right now. Also, I am hungry because I gave Trevor all of the rice. He told me you gave him, yeah.

Yeah, well, it was rice with some lamb fat on it. That's nice of you. Yeah. I offered him mine too, but he said, no, I've had enough. Yeah, he ate a lot of rice. Giganton? Gigaton?

Yeah, I think it's Gigaton, not Giganton. You just invented a new music style. If you like reggaeton, here's Giganton. Gigaton Cowboy says, Pour over coffee is a glorified drip coffee that doesn't magically taste better. I like drip coffees. I'm willing to wait and spend the money to enjoy it. For a pour over?

Yeah, I like a good pour over. But I'm an espresso girl. What do you think your biggest blind spot when it comes to food is? Like what's the thing you know the least about? Most things? Everything. Yeah. Wine. I'm not very good at it. I feel like wine and

coffee are like 1A 1B for me. I learned how to I learned coffee. I don't get it. I don't even know. I've never, I've never ground my own beans. I don't do it either. I don't, yeah. Like anymore. I've never made a, I made a pour over for the first time

ever at my buddy's apartment in San Francisco. He's not even like a San Francisco kind of guy like that. Yeah, yeah. He's like, I don't know, this is the way I make coffee in the morning because it was cheap and easy. And I did it and it was like really nice. It was good. I don't know.

Was it better than me making it in my little like ninja foodie $120 drip coffee maker? I have a Nespresso machine. You have a Nespresso? I've been a Nespresso person for like eight years. Bro, how much money you got? A lot. I'm just kidding. It was a wedding gift.

Oh, that makes sense yeah that's why i want to get married yeah good to know noted um no my i had an espresso machine at home and then when i moved out i got one and it's so easy yeah it's just easy you get it and you go home i once i once wrote an article that was called like this 20 cup of coffee made me realize i was an idiot manchild. Because I went to Blue Bottle Coffee, and they were like, this is the original coffee bean that launched the coffee revolution in 800 BCE. It's from Yemen. It was smuggled out by a boat.

Cool. I swear to God, this is a real thing. And they gave you a pamphlet, and it, like, showed the route and all this. And then they were like, it has notes of coffee blossom and cherry ornamentals. And I'm like, what is going on? And I drank it i was like it's coffee that's coffee man heck yeah that's crazy and so i i don't think i can tell the difference between most coffees i drink coffee like medicine me caring about the taste of my coffee would be like caring about the texture of advil it's just like people that like drink coffee like oh these videos? Oh, yeah, yeah.

They do the coffee tasting? Yeah. Uh-huh. Alright, we've got NatPilon23. The texture of ripe bananas is weird. I eat them when they're still a little green. Nutella slathered on top and sliced pretty thinly. Mm-hmm. You prefer

green bananas? No. No. I just like the Nutella flavor. I like my bananasella. Yeah. I like my bananas very bruised. I like a good ripe banana, and then I like a good spotted banana too. I'm all about the spots. There is almost not a banana that's too ripe for me to still just eat straight. If it's like brown.

Oh, yeah. That was coming from outside. He's scared. from it it's coming from within the walls nicole just thinking about a sumptuous banana oh the leopard spots let you know it's ripe it's soft and sweet i need an adult sweet nicole so sweet learn to like lean into the pleasures of life you know green bananas would you like deliciously

that's a Black Phillip reference from The Witch no I do like bananas I was just talking about how I don't trust goats because I watched the movie The Witch

Black Phillip Black Phillip Black Phillip Mommy Black Phillip is talking that's good stuff Anya Taylor-Joy what a a, what a, what a, what a, what a, what a, what a, what an actor. What a young actor doing great stuff.

My turn. Yeah, yeah. I guess. I don't know how to follow that. HR Richmond says, big chunks of cookies ruin the chocolate to cookie ratio. Is chocolate good? Yes. Do I want a cookie to be melted chocolate held together by bits of

cookie dough? No. I disagree. I love a big pool of chocolatey goodness and I think you're wrong. Is chocolate good? Yes. I agree with that part of the conversation Mr. Ridgeman. I agree with that part. I get what they're saying.

I get what they're saying. That's why I don't even like chocolate chips in my cookies at all. Cookies should be one uniform texture and that's it. And then different cookie varieties, Nicole, let me tell you, should be flavored. If you want oatmeal raisin cookies, that's fine. You gotta blend it smooth. And that whole cookie, I believe this with ice cream as well,

the whole cookie should be flavored of oatmeal and raisins. You sounded like Adam Sandler. And I don't believe that to be true. What is going on? Who are you? This is just me and raisins. You sounded like Adam Sandler. I don't believe that to be true. What is going on? Who are you? This is just me

and my opinions. You would do well to respect them. Thank you. Really bad Adam Sandler. I wasn't even you decided it was Adam Sandler.

I didn't. I was just making a weird voice. It's a weird ass opinion that I have. I love cookies and I think little pieces of cookie with chocolate is good. And you need to go and reevaluate some things, Mr. Man.

Mr. Man with your little man opinions. All right, one more, one more, one more. We got at Richard65023082. This is a throwaway account that used to harass people online, I'm guessing. That's a joke, Richard. God, I hope you don't do that. Vinaigrettes and some creamy dressings like blue cheese and buttermilk ranch are better

than Dijon mustard for adding acidity to mac and cheese. Let's go. This is a wild card. No. Have you ever just added straight salad dressing to your mac, though? No. Never, never, never. But I imagine Italian dressing would be really good in mac and cheese. You know what this is one step away from, though?

What? Do you remember my secret hack for making the best mashed potatoes you've ever had, Nicole? Yes. Tell people what it was. Mayonnaise. Mayonnaise. You add mayonnaise to your mashed potatoes, and it's, well, at the very least, going to make you have more mashed potatoes because nobody else will eat it.

But I think that's what they're getting at. Gross. Because, listen, like, vinaigrettes, a lot of vinaigrettes are emulsified, effectively mayonnaise-based. Yes, sure. And creamy dressings like blue cheese and buttermilk ranch,

mayonnaise based. Better than Dijon mustard. This person is adding mayonnaise to their mac and cheese. I've never done that. I'd like to try it. You're a pioneer and I respect you.

I don't like you, but I respect you. And on that note, thank you for listening to A Hot Dog is a Sandwich. If you want to hear more from us here in the Mythical Kitchen, we've got new episodes

for you every Wednesday. And if you want to be featured on opinions like cwich. If you want to hear more from us here in the Mythical Kitchen, we've got new episodes for you every Wednesday. And if you want to be featured on opinions like casseroles, you can hit us up on Twitter at MythicalChef or nhendizade with the hashtag OpinionCasserole.

And for more Mythical Kitchen, check us out on YouTube. We launch new videos every single week. That's right. And if you want to share pictures of your dishes, hit us up on Instagram

at Mythical Kitchen. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye now. Stay salty. All right, salty spice.