Translated…
Salt, like illegal substances, is easily addicted to.
Before I came to Poland, I’d rarely used any oils or salt when I cooked, and, I found it hard to believe, how the British wouldn’t taste their foods, and just, started splashing salt all over. And still, as I came to Poland, because most of the traditional foods here are oily and salty, I’d adapted to this sort of tastes too, treated it as matter-of-fact.
I must say, that I did, put up a good fight. The first five years I lived in Poland, when I cooked, I’d rarely used any salt. My husband disliked salt too, and so, I had no need, to make my cooking extra salty. But in the seventh or eighth year of moving to Poland, I’d found myself, to put in the salt, as I was making the first course, chicken soup (I’d used to follow my mother’s way, the first course, soup, sweet and light, and start adding the salts for the second course), in cooking, making stews, and frying the eggs, I’d sprinkled some salt on, and sometimes, I’d added too much, making the dishes a bit too salty.
I watched this change take place overtime, and I was, filled up with fears, tried hard, to find the reasons for it. At the same time, I’d also complained to my husband, “Why do you Polish people love salt so! It’s all because of you, that’s caused my tastes to change!”
“We don’t have any other spices.” My husband said, helplessly, “there’s not that many variety of fruits and vegetables, living inland in Poland, with the long winters, all we could eat were the meats and the roots of vegetables, and they’d needed, a ton of seasoning. Because of the cold weather, we’d cooked with a lot of oil, and, in order to lighten up the taste, all we could do, was to add a lot of pepper and salt.”
True, salt in Poland is a very important seasoning. And, it’s perhaps because of that, in Poland, the Chinese description of “salty” also meant expensive, pricy” too. I’d used Wikipedia and found, that edible salt was hard to get in the ancient times, and, during a time period, it was even used as a currency, and in cultures, it’s a symbol “value” too.
Not only is salt a must in the kitchens of Poland, but it’s also a required item in the medicines. In a few of the salt mines, there were underground rehabilitation centers that used the salt-filled air to treat the patients’ allergies and respiratory problems. In the pharmacies, there are also salt used for treatments sold, to be used as a inhalation therapy, rinse, or to be used in baths.
After I’d had my son, I’d started retaining water in my wrists, the doctors told me to soak my hand in salty water, but, I thought it was too grueling, after once or twice, I’d stopped doing it, and so, I couldn’t tell you if it worked or not.
Salt also played an important part in rituals. For instance, in the weddings of Polish traditions, the mother of the bride would welcome the newlywed with bread and salt, giving them blessings (the bread symbolized fertility, wisdom, and welcoming to guests, and the salt symbolized dignity, and the blessings from God, because people believe, that you can ward off evil with salt). The newlywed only needed to tear off of small piece of bread, and dip it in salt, eat it, then, they’d accepted the mother’s blessings.
Now that I’d learned, there are so many positive views on salt, so, the next time I’d used too much salt, perhaps, I won’t, feel so guilty then?
And so, you can see, the cultural difference, what this woman had to adapt, as she married into a different culture, and that just shows, how one thing can mean different things to various cultures.
