Full transcript
0:00In much of Western Europe and America,
0:02seasonings mean salt and pepper.
0:04They are so strong a pairing that we even use them to describe people -
0:07think of George Clooney and his trademark salt and pepper hair.
0:11But where did they come from,
0:12and why do they form such a ubiquitous pairing?
0:15Salt is essential for life, and it’s been used since prehistoric times,
0:18either scraped from saltwater deposits,
0:20harvested from salty lakes, or mined from underground.
0:23It’s one of the earliest food industries,
0:25and one of the most important commodities in the world.
0:28It makes food taste better, but it's also vital for preservation -
0:31whether of meat or vegetables.
0:33Methods for producing and controlling it
0:35were developed by all the classic civilisations,
0:37most notably the Romans,
0:38who left their mark on modern day language
0:40with their word for salt – sal.
0:42Roman soldiers received their salary – money to buy salt –
0:45and salads were vegetables and greens seasoned with salt.
0:48In the medieval period salt was expensive,
0:50and frequently controlled by the state.
0:52Huge, ornate vessels for the table were made out of gold and silver,
0:55dominating dinner tables,
0:56and indicating very clearly who was of high status.
1:00Sitting below the salt - i.e. not on the highest table -
1:02well, clearly you weren’t exactly exalted.
1:05Having salt on the table was as much for show as practicality,
1:08for dishes were seasoned in the kitchen,
1:09but adding salt to one’s meat – with the tip of the knife –
1:12was common practice,
1:13and the uncertain noble could buy written advice
1:15on exactly how salt etiquette worked
1:17along with the even thornier question of how to carve.
1:20But how did pepper come to join it?
1:22It was one among a wide range of spices
1:24available to the medieval cook, and it was expensive –
1:26in the 1430s one pound of peppercorns cost as much as a pig.
1:31In the late 15th Century,
1:32the Portuguese took control of Malabar in east India,
1:35and started cultivating black pepper on a large scale.
1:38Prices fell, in line with over supply,
1:39and pepper became more readily available.
1:41By the 16th Century the phrase ‘peppercorn rent’ was in use,
1:44to mean a nominal sum.
1:46The real boost though,
1:47came with a change in culinary fashion to favour the French.
1:50They loved black pepper,
1:51and their chefs were busy tidying and simplifying medieval cuisine,
1:54delineating more firmly sweet from savoury,
1:56and codifying which ingredients worked with which.
1:59Salt was obviously savoury.
2:01Pepper tended that way,
2:02and so the fashionable French-style dishes
2:04of the next century used both, together,
2:06and with fewer and fewer other spices.
2:09By the Victorian age,
2:10salt and pepper were coming together as standard seasonings.
2:13However, other forms of pepper vied with black,
2:15and cayenne also appeared frequently in cookery books.
2:18Salt was still on the table -
2:20now in small salt cellars, no longer just for the privileged few.
2:23In 1911 the Morton Salt Company of Chicago
2:25patented an easy-flow salt
2:27and salt shakers could finally take off.
2:30During the 20th Century, pepper shakers joined them.
2:32Then, as package holidays introduced Brits
2:34to freshly ground pepper at the table,
2:36pepper mills replaced the shakers.
2:38Phew.
2:39It’s not a ubiquitous combination everywhere though –
2:41other cultures might still have the salt
2:43but replace the black pepper with chilli.
2:45And let us not forget the pickles, the sambals,
2:48the vinegars, the fish sauces and the salsas.
2:50Can I make room on my table and have them all?