Tips from an Ex-Addict

The most famous convert to the virtues of saltlessness is Craig Claiborne, the New York Times food editor. Before his doctor ordered a low-sodium diet, Claiborne admits, he was the kind of fellow who ate the rock salt along with the homemade ice cream, and drank straight sauerkraut juice on ice. Now, with lowered blood pressure and a bestseller, Craig Claiborne's Gourmet Diet Book, the contented cook offers some notes from a salt-free kitchen:

I am convinced that the taste of salt masks the natural flavor of foods--a lifelong coverup. If you wish to wean your taste buds away from salt, the object is to find other flavors that will distract your palate.

Most cooks whom I know seem to think that a simple squeeze of lemon juice is the ultimate substitute for salt, and I find that naive. I do, of course, on occasion resort to lemon. But flavors that compensate, those that give special zest to foods, are beyond count. I prefer fresh herbs like parsley, tarragon, finely chopped garlic and fresh grated horseradish; spices Like curry and chili powders, powdered mustard (made into a paste with water), hot pepper flakes, a generous grinding of black pepper and sugar. Soy sauce, incidentally, is loaded with sodium, even a low-sodium one you can buy in a health food store.

What you should strive for in no-salt cooking is contrasts in flavors and textures. When you cook green beans or asparagus, for example, they should be slightly undercooked to keep their "bite"--what the Italians call al dente.

In no-salt cookery you should use the freshest foods that can be found. There are four vegetables that make an especially fine feast without salt. These are mushrooms, eggplants, really fresh red ripe tomatoes and good-quality onions, white or red.

When I make a salad dressing of oil and vinegar, I now generally use a malt vinegar rather than red wine vinegar because it is "sweeter" to the taste. Sometimes I add more than a dash of dry white vermouth. The exact recipe is 1/2 teaspoon of egg yolk put in a bowl with 1 tablespoon each of mustard and malt vinegar, plus a generous grinding of black pepper and, perhaps, a bit of finely minced garlic. I beat the mixture with a wire whisk while gradually adding 3 tablespoons of good olive oil. Last come 3 tablespoons of the vermouth.

Most people state that the foods they would enjoy least without salt are eggs, potatoes and bread. I buy eggs that are strictly fresh, small red new waxy potatoes, and make my own French bread without salt. The eggs (one a week) I scramble, poach or otherwise cook without salt. They are delectable. The potatoes (with broiled or steamed fresh fish, for example) are incredibly good. And the bread is irresistible. Incidentally, such things as bread and no-salt cereals improve in flavor and texture if baked briefly in the oven.

You or your doctor should establish your own maximum sodium intake for one day. You should then do your daily reckoning. Let us say you are out of my homemade unsalted mustard and have only commercially made mustard in the refrigerator. If you wish to make a salad dressing, you could use the commercial preparation, which contains about 200 mg per tablespoon. That salad dressing will serve four. Your share of the dressing will amount to a mere 50 mg.

Certain vegetables, like celery, carrots and beets, do contain more sodium than others. But they are high in sodium only by comparison with other vegetables. One rib of celery contains 50 mg of sodium. If you prepare a Creole sauce, you can add a cup or so of chopped celery. It is a traditional ingredient, and in the overall sodium reckoning, the amount served to each person will be negligible.

For low-salt cooking you need a chart detailing the sodium content of various foods. Such charts are included in most low-sodium or no-salt cookbooks. The best tables are in a book titled Composition of Foods, Agriculture Handbook No. 8, U S Department of Agriculture. You can get it from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. The cost is $7, check or money order. The charts are totally comprehensible. I am an ignoramus when it comes to mathematics, but I mastered those charts within seconds.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.