Friday, May 31, 2024

How did humans first discover salt for cooking?

It certainly wasn't some dream.

Early humans didn't wake up with a craving for salty mammoth jerky.

No, it was more... primal.

Think about it: these guys, living off the land, chasing herds, always on the hunt.

Their diet?

Mostly meat, plants, stuff with a little natural salt.

But as their palates got more refined and they wandered into new territories, they stumbled on places where salt was practically begging to be found.

Picture salty marshes, coastlines, even guys licking rocks (yeah, they did that).

These places exposed them to a whole new level of saltiness, and it probably didn't take long to figure out it made their food taste better.

It wasn't exactly culinary school, more like "survival of the saltiest."

Now, they weren't exactly Michelin-star chefs back then.

The first attempts at cooking with salt were probably pretty basic.

Maybe rubbing some salt from a spring onto a hunk of meat, or using seawater to season their grub.

Hell, they might've even watched animals licking salt, thinking, "Hey, if it's good enough for them..."

Over time, through trial and error and probably a few too many salty surprises, they realized salt didn't just make food taste good, it kept it from rotting.

That was a game-changer, especially in a world without those mini-fridges.


Basically, the discovery of salt in cooking wasn't some grand epiphany.

It was a gradual process, driven by observation, necessity, and a touch of caveman curiosity.

Ancient humans were also engulfed in the endless pursuit of a good meal, even if it meant licking a few goddamn rocks along the way.

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