New York is crazy–follow me on this one. Brooklyn democrat Felix Ortiz is trying to pass a legislation to ban salt from all restaurants in New York state. I did a little research and found that this is not a joke. Allow me to give a brief background on salt.
Salt is used in every aspect of cooking. From your appetizer to your dessert, salt isn’t extra product thrown in; it’s chemically necessary. It was originally used to preserve food. Hunters in Asia found that when they left their kills by a particular lake, they lasted longer and tasted better. They soon found that they could harvest the mineral from this lake and used it to preserve all their meats. This was eventually added to cooking, refined, sold, and industrialized. Salt industries are now gigantic.
I’ll start by approaching how salt is used in every day food, starting with breakfast: No cereal of any kind can be made without salt, it’s part of the chemical process. No sausage: salt is used in charcuterie. No bacon: salt is used in curing. No ham: most ham in America is preserved with salt of smoked with salt. Eggs: have you ever had an egg with no salt? Yeah, its possible, but its disgusting. No toast: bread needs salt to rise–no salt, no bread. Butter: most butter in America has salt in it, even those that claim to be low sodium have a decent amount. What else am I missing? No waffles, pancakes, jam, jelly, donuts, muffins, cheese, hash browns, etc. Am I scaring you yet? This is just breakfast!
Let’s look on a larger scale: All chain restaurants would be forced to cough up 1000$ every time they were found in violation of this law, meaning, no more McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Dunkin Donuts, KFC, Chipotle, etc. Most chefs in New York would leave. Without salt, food tastes like crap. There are very few ways to take salt and substitute it while keeping the chemical structure of the food sound. New York would crumble–NYC especially. New York City is the food capital of the United States. Without salt, it would become a joke.
The chances of this legislation actually being passed are slim to none, but please, don’t let it happen on an off chance. Sign the petition and let it be known that this is the worst idea in history.
Join the Facebook page and follow them on Twitter to show your support as well.
Thank You.
Ps: No salt means no beer or wine, most mixed drinks, some hard alcohol. Yeah, smart…
"Best & Better" by Anni Altshuler
