Today, upon logging onto Slack, I was greeted with a horror story. Last night, our dear managing editor, Virginia, was making a lentil soup recipe from , only to find it called for a paltry 1/4 teaspoon of salt. “Reader, it was bland,” she told us, to which A.A. Newton replied “I’m going to scream,” because she is basically a salt-rights activist.

There are the spices and seasonings you should always have in your pantry, and then are the special bois. These are the blends that smell so good and look so pretty, but maybe seem just a little too precious for everyday use. These are the blends you should give as gifts.

Liquid smoke, an additive that imparts a charred wood flavour to food without using a smoker, has been dismissed as both "cheating" and "nasty" but, if used with a delicate hand, it can produce some tasty results.. I love liquid smoke in my apartment-approved, smoke-free, sous vide ribs, but it has other clever uses, none of which have anything to do with meat.

Making your own spice blends isn't particularly challenging, but buying a single bottle of a blend is both more convenient and fiscally responsible than buying five bottles of five different spices. Plus, if you're just getting into the world of seasonings and spices, blends can be a bit less intimidating.

The term "all-purpose seasoning" has always seemed slightly hyperbolic to me. Unless we're talking about salt, there are few seasonings that truly enhance everything they touch, but shio koji comes close.

Throughout the culinary kingdom, there are many foods that pair famously well, salt and pepper being perhaps the most iconic. These two grace almost every dish, every recipe, every table, and every condiment bar that you've ever been to. But why?

Don't get me wrong, black pepper has its place - I love a fillet au poivre, black pepper vodka, and of course crunchy black pepper potato chips - but there are other, less frequently used peppercorns, and you should know about them. There's a whole world of chromatically diverse flavour out there, and you should be tasting that peppery rainbow.

If you've ever seen a bright yellow bottle with two happy-looking old people on it, you've probably wondered exactly what are Bragg's Liquid Aminos. Basically, it's an unfermented, soy sauce-like product made completely from soy beans and water (meaning it's wheat free), and it is delicious.

Awards season is rapidly approaching, which means you should be watching lots of movies - so that you may express your smart and good movie opinions - and eating lots of snacks. A big bowl of fluffy, flavorful popped corn is the obvious, correct choice, but if you find yourself getting a little bored of the basic butter-and-salt situation, we have some ways to branch out.

Until recently, I never measured freshly ground pepper. If a recipe called for half a teaspoon, I would simply grind the berries over the dish until I thought I had "enough", based on nothing but my nose and how pungent I was feeling that day, because there was no elegant way to measure it by teaspoon from the grinder. But, if you take the time to do some measuring just once, you'll be able to dispense the amount needed in any recipe, no measuring spoon required.

Indian cooking can seem complicated and convoluted to people who aren't inherently familiar with it; all that grinding of various spice pastes -- a dash of this, a smidgen of that. But the truth is that once you get the hang of a few basic spices, Indian cooking is as straightforward as any other cuisine.

Stocking a spice cabinet can be a little overwhelming, simply for the reason that there are so many spices out there. It may be tempting to stock up on every exciting seasoning in sight, but these things do have an expiration date, and you can end up with a cabinet full of flavourless, expensive powders that need to be replaced.

Under-seasoned meat is a crime. That poor, simple-headed chicken gave its life for you and ¼ teaspoon of salt-free lemon pepper per drumstick is your whole plan? Jesus, Barbara, have some respect. Thank goodness for spice rubs, which prevent crimes of improper seasoning by quickly imparting complex flavours to everything they touch.

If you've watched any appreciable number of cooking shows, you've most likely been instructed by some famous chef to "finish" your dish with a drizzle of oil, a sprinkling of salt, or some freshly chopped herbs. "Finishing" a dish, which is quite different than polishing one off, simply means adding those extra flourishes to help the food shine and become its best self.

Video: Seasoning cast iron with flaxseed oil isn't super new -- Sheryl Canter first wrote about it on her blog seven years ago -- but it has some serious fans. Both Cook's Illustrated and The Kitchn are believers, with the former saying it created "a sheer, stick-resistant veneer, that even a run through our commercial dishwasher with a squirt of degreaser left them totally unscathed".

I first had za'atar, a Mediterranean spice blend featuring thyme, sumac and sesame seeds, in Israel, and it was a revelation. This savoury seasoning powder was good on almost everything -- from seared lamb to yogurt -- and I don't know why it never occurred to me to just make my own.

Just like cast iron, a carbon steel pan needs to be seasoned before its first use. Oil is a must-have for the process, but Cook's Illustrated recommends an additional surprising ingredient for prepping your pan: Potato peels.

Miso is a wonderfully salty paste made from fermented soybeans that packs a ton of savoury, umami flavour into a teaspoon. It's most commonly used in miso soup, but the funky seasoning can be used in a variety of delicious applications, from chip dips and sandwich spreads, to caramels and cake frostings.

I know some people are perfectly content to munch away on a big ol' stalk of raw broccoli, but I need a little more encouragement in the veggie-eating arena. Luckily, Lucky Peach has compiled a list of twelve flavour-blasted pantry items to add depth, texture, and taste to all of your favourite vegetables.

KFC's "secret" chicken recipe is now common knowledge, and the culinary world will never be the same. Among the 11 herbs and spices listed stands the sometimes maligned white pepper, a pale, citrusy berry that adds funky flavour to chicken (and everything else it touches).