Let’s face it.  We all have our favorite recipes, drinks, desserts, even kitchen tools, BUT no matter what any of those items may be, we are often neglectful of the most important items in our kitchens.  That’s right, I am talking about good ole S&P!

Salt and pepper are the back bones of flavoring food.  It’s the difference between ‘eh’ food or ‘really-excellent-worth-every-second-you-spent-cooking-and-eating’ food.  This is probably the most important lesson Michel has driven home with me over ten years of cooking at home, and nearly forty years teaching in kitchens.  Seasoning with salt and pepper through out the cooking process is the key to the best food.

In any industrial kitchen you will see this:

And in my home kitchen, you will see this:

Making the most important cooking ingredient easily accessible, makes the whole process easier.  And it serves as a constant reminder.  Add an ingredient, add salt and pepper.

I prefer to use kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.  Michel uses the same at Tersiguel’s.  You can use what you like. Iodized, kosher, sea. They are all good.  Black, pink, mixed peppercorns.  Whatever you prefer.  There are many other salts and peppers in the world.  Some I have been lucky enough to try on dishes in restaurants, and others I have experimented with in my own kitchen.  For now, above all else, I needed to get this ground rule out there.  We all can experiment in the future.