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Which is to say--narrowing things down--do the two actually have any mutual enhancement effect, such as, say, in the manner in which salt can fool the tastebuds into perceiving sweet as even sweeter? (thus reducing cost for sweetening)

I have never "observed" any such effect of salt and pepper used in tandem...at least I don't think so. Is it simply that the two are typically found together, and handily so, in most any food prep area? (The recommended reading elicited by the question suggests such an interpretation but does not address the aspect of s&p mutuality when shaken, used, or tasted together)

If there is, in fact, no such mutual complementary effect, it will suffice to simply say so--I will accept that as an equally affirmative answer.

Kristina Lopez
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lex
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  • Welcome, Lex! Can you please provide the research you've already done for this question? – Kristina Lopez Oct 28 '12 at 23:22
  • @KristinaLopez I think this is a pretty reasonable question as-is. Might be a duplicate though. – Cascabel Oct 28 '12 at 23:57
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    possible duplicate of [Why are salt and pepper the "classic" dinner table seasoning?](http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/19095/why-are-salt-and-pepper-the-classic-dinner-table-seasoning) – Cascabel Oct 28 '12 at 23:58
  • @Jefromi, some reasonable effort should be made to find an answer before posting a question. At least I asked - some just downvote. – Kristina Lopez Oct 29 '12 at 00:42
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    @KristinaLopez: That doesn't mean every question needs to come with a description of research, particularly if that description would be "I googled various things and didn't find anything conclusive." I think this question is fine; if you don't, feel free to post a question on [meta] to discuss it there. – Cascabel Oct 29 '12 at 00:51
  • Thanks, Jefromi, if I thought the question warranted it, I would. Instead I thought it best to greet our new member and ask for their research, if any. :-) – Kristina Lopez Oct 29 '12 at 00:55

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Pepper is likely just lucky to be a very commonly used spice that gets to hang with Salt all the time, though Salt really makes everyone else look good anyway. Pepper just doesn't look good on its own.

Uh... Yeah.

I say you do see salt paired with plenty of other spices, but because "Salt and Pepper" is pretty engrained in our culture (refer to the potential duplicate thread), you don't really take note. Therefore, you will always see "Salt and X" as a matter of fact but rarely do you see "X" alone without that ever so essential Salt.

This answer's getting pretty close to the Answer in the other Salt and Pepper question, huh?

grumpasaurus
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  • @KristinaLopez and friends: An update to the question is in progress which will clarify the "research" and "question uniqueness" misgivings, and add further augmentary narrowing [;)elements to the question. Please stand by as it might take a while. Thanks. – lex Oct 30 '12 at 06:52
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I'd say salt/pepper is a cultural thing. Salt can generally be hidden in anything, and it's fairly often paired with sugar in mass produced foods to improve the flavour.

Echilon
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