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Comment by baby | Hacker News Reader

> What are you cooking that you add oil after it is done?

Really everything from salads to grilled meat. If you use good olive oil, cooking it will remove its taste, so it's really a waste. If you want to taste some good olive oil, you have to eat it raw.

> Also, most of the pro chefs that I have watched will add salt throughout cooking (especially if it is a dish they can taste as they go) to make sure the balance stays right

I know, but then I tried this at home many times and I could not taste a difference. Perhaps there is a slight difference but I wouldn't expect any home chef to notice.

Fresh pepper and olive oil always taste better than cooked pepper and cooked oil. Garlic is better when slightly cooked. Same for herbs like mint, coriander, etc. that I don't cook anymore.

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There are plenty of reasons to do and not do all of the things you listed.

I toast my peppercorns before cracking them for Thai and Vietnamese dishes or whenever I need smoke without piquancy.

I don't saute with EVOO because it's got one of the lowest smoke points. I also don't necessarily want everything I dress to taste like olive oil, and I use a range of fats for complement.

Salt, like many ingredients, takes time to distribute, so adding it at the end won't enhance a dish unless the desired flavor is "salt". Soups, stews, and meat all benefit from pre-salting. Dissolving salt in water before adding it to doughs and batters is better than adding it dry is better than baking without salt and adding it at the end. Time is key.

Garlic depends on the dish. I frequently use raw grated garlic in South American and Korean, cook it low and slow until it's sticky golden and then add fresh right off the heat for "American" Italian, or crush a clove to saute in oil and then discard for traditional Italian. I mostly agree about the herbs, but I also cook with them add more for garnish.

I've got some eclectic culinary styles and preferences by most standards, so I usually fish a little during conversation so I can taylor for my guests' tastes without making it obvious. The point is really to have a good time.

While I agree on a whole lot of points and probably just about everything, "from salads to grilled meat" covers "something not cooked" and "something cooked but very resistant to anything penetrating more than like half a centimeter". That's not a very wide range of food, particularly where these ingredients are concerned.

How about a stewed tomato dish? Eggplant Parmesan? Curry? Stuff where salt and oil would have literally any chance of penetrating or affecting the chemistry for more than a few minutes or millimeters? It fairly clearly works better afterward for stuff that doesn't, but that's hardly all or even most food.

The purpose of adding oil during cooking is not to add flavor, it's to improve heat conduction. You can use cheaper oil for cooking and save the good stuff for raw applications.

Why would you use good/expensive olive oil to cook/fry with in the first place?

If you're not able to taste a difference when you're adding salt you might want to try a different size or type of salt. I have maybe 5 or 6 different granularities and types I use for difference times at home.

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