Chapter 19: How Much Salt?

 

“I know that seems like an awful lot of food to cook but believe me, there won’t be a drop left after it’s served. And anything that is left over we feed to the beggars out in the street. So we never have to worry about that.”

Maria smiled and began to ask some more questions. “What about salt? How much salt do you put in?”

“Oh yes, that is the only other thing that we measure. It’s simple—really. No matter how much you cook, for every cup of grain use one teaspoon of salt. That will take care of the rice and beans. And then, depending on how many vegetables we add, some additional salt may be added. But one teaspoon for every cup of grain—rice and dhal combined—that is how much salt to use.”

“Ok, that sounds simple enough. But what about all the other spices, here? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kitchen with so many different spices—and colorful, too.”

“I know what you mean, Maria. It takes a little while to get the hang of it. First let’s measure out the rice and dhal.”

“By the way, where did you ever find such huge pots? They look like they’d feed a small army.” Once more the two woman began to laugh as Beatrice explained to Maria how Judy had ordered the pots from a company in South Africa, famous for their large, stainless steel cookware.