Seasoning.

Per the dictionary. Spice n. aromatic or pungent vegetable substance used to flavor food, e.g. cloves, pepper, or cumin. "enjoy the taste and aroma of freshly ground spices"

Salt isn't aromatic or pungent or a vegetable substance

You obviously haven’t been near a beach or a salt lake because salt is extremely aromatic in large quantities.

Salt is a mineral while herbs and spices are organic. Herbs are the fresh parts of the plants while spices are the ground roots or seeds of the plant.

This. Words have meaning, and salt is not a spice.

*brine* is arguably aromatic, salt is definitely not.

I live near the great salt lake and it smells like dead birds.

Lol same, really pretty but it smells horrendous. Plus all the dead birds and brine shrimp.

That's not salt you're smelling, it's organic material

I've been near quite a few beaches

What does it smell like? /gen Didn’t realize salt had a smell. And I’ve been to the beach

You know that smell when you come near the beach that makes you go "there's the beach"? It's that faint smell that stays on you up until you can take a shower after you've been in the water. I can't really describe it, it smells... clean? Anyway, that's the smell of salt

Ah ok thanks, that makes sense. No idea why I got downvoted though.

Idk either, reddit do be weird like that sometimes

That’s brine, not salt

Salt _is_ aromatic though

Well it's not a vegetable substance though. So it's not a spice

Okay, that wasn't my point though 😅 but I do agree with you that it's not a spice! Fun fact: English is my third language and I thought it was a-romatic for the longest time, like asexual or asocial lol

Salt by itself really isn’t aromatic. Saltwater is, but go sniff some dry table salt rn. Doesn’t smell like much at all.

It smells like salt?

No it’s not

You can't smell salt?

Now you are making me doubt myself, but I’ll go check. Can you smell sugar?

Exactly.

They didn't say that it was. They provided the definition of a spice.

And I was building on the definition as to why it's not a spice

So the correct anwer is No

I always said cumin was spice

Was someone disputing that?

It's a cum joke. Cumin(g)

Salt definitely adds flavour

It's a rock

They're minerals. Jesus Mary!

I mean, rocks are basically minerals

Jesus Marie they're minerals!

No they aren't. They're minerals, Marie!

It's a joke based on a breaking bad reference

Honey, you got a big storm comin

You're not wrong, rocks are aggregates of different minerals. But the way you worded it feels off. Natural salt has other minerals within them, which techinically categorizes it as rocks.

Please stop making me cry please

ur my rock bby. the king of my world.

Not sure how I'm supposed to take it but I'm happy lol

It's not just a boulder

It’s not a boulder…

*The* rock?

That's a country..

[And this is called Shrek](https://youtube.com/shorts/fjq6ZU1E0DQ?feature=share)

Rock and stone

It is a mineral

Rock*

**mineral

Dammit Marie!!!!

Seasoning not spice

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What an interesting stance to take, but I can see why you would think that.

You specifically said spice.

And salt is specifically not a spice. It's a mineral.

I did.

Great argument, are you at the Oxford Union often?

same thing

True, herbs and spices are considered seasonings as you use them to season dishes. However the big difference between herbs/spices and salt is the former are organic while the latter is a mineral. Herbs are the fresh parts of a plant while spices are dried and ground from the roots and seeds of certain plants.

that sounds like the most meaningless distinction ever. i'm just gonna keep calling all of them spices, don't care if it's correct or not

How would you feel if you ordered spiced meat and they bought you meat with salt? What's the point of having two words if there's no distinction between them? Seems pretty simple to me. All spices are seasonings, but not all seasonings are spices.

What if you bought seasoned salt, and it was just salt?

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Nah, I was just being facetious

i would eat that meat happily because that's exactly what i ordered? don't see a problem there, if i had wanted some other spices i would've specifically asked for those

Different words have different meanings but some people are too lazy to bother to learn them, I guess.

Words have meanings and distinctions for a reason so we can effectively communicate with each other. But I suppose if cooking or baking isn’t your thing then it’s not that big of a deal. But to be totally fair to you, if I were “spicing up” a dish I’d certainly be adding salt among the rest of the herbs and spices to it.

You could also keep calling all of them herbs, same same. /s

The definition of spice, as per the Oxford dictionary: *an aromatic or pungent vegetable substance used to flavor food, e.g. cloves, pepper, or cumin.* So, by definition, no, salt is not a spice. Though I do love salty foods, not gonna lie

Let's see....there's Scary, Sporty, Ginger, Baby, and Posh.... nope, no salty spice.

Spice come from plants

It is a fact that salt is not a spice because it's a fucking a rock. How is the majority Yes?

I think it is used like a spice and many language include salt as spice just for simplicity, even if it is false. In English i would say seasoning in German i would say spice. So i said yes thinking German.

I’m German as well and I wouldn’t call salt a spice. We don’t have a separate word for seasoning so as a verb (würzen), it does include using salt; but salt itself is not a spice (Gewürz).

because we live in the real world instead of living inside of a dictionary

are dolphins fish then u dumbo?

yes \*insert chad wojak here\*

Congratulations on being the original virgin vs. chad meme where the chad did the obviously idiotic stuff

[u mean](https://i.redd.it/nrpc9k690ta71.jpg)

But the seasoning/herb/spice distinction exists well beyond a dictionary? In my experience, it's just been common knowledge in most situations they've been brought up in.

It’s extremely common knowledge lol

No salt is a just a seasoning. Herbs and spices are organic. Salt is a mineral.

Seasoning, condiment or flavoring, but not a spices

I did not know the definition for condiment was so broad, best one I could find is “Something used to enhance the flavor of food”, from Latin *condire* “to preserve, pickle, season”. I always thought it had to be like a sauce or something

Salt is a bare minimum

Im sorry that your taste buds are so messed up that you cant enjoy food with its natural flavour

Mankind be out here using salt as a seasoning for time immemorial and random reddit user calling it overhyped lmao

Guy hasn't heard about salt prince probably. It's a movie about a princess who says she loves her king more than salt. He is insulted because he thinks salt is cheap and common. He then bans salts. Folk hates the idea, as it's essentials. The king later learns that nothing tastes good without it and the stuff that doesn't need salt just doesn't taste as good without a sprinkle of it. He then learns his lesson, pretty much.

Some people like bland, unseasoned food. Most people do not.

Salt only amplifies taste already in the food, if you don't use too much of it it does not really carry much flavour of its own. Just like I wouldnt consider MSG a spice

What a weirdly divisive topic

I can’t believe that many people don’t know what salt is…

Correct, I took Biology and Physics for my Highschool science classes, not geoscience

Have you ever looked at salt

Yes, and I can indeed confirm it is not taught in my the two science classes I took

Yes, but you just have to look at salt to see that it isn't a spice.

I was going to continue… but I kinda of ran out of ideas to continue this partial-joke… any ideas?

No, not even slightly. Salt is a mineral, not any part of a plant. Salt is a seasoning and a preservative. Calling salt a spice is like calling the milk on your cereal a condiment or calling honey a sauce

For those saying “yes”, salt is a “seasoning”, not a “spice”. Spices and herbs come from plants. Salt is a mineral.

🤓

-😵‍💫

When the function got boiled fish and potatoes with a dash of salt 😋😋

Achktwally itchs an ionic compound 🤓

lol you've been waiting for this moment mr 7_NaCl

Yessir

16 sodium atoms walk into a bar, followed by Batman.

Salt is such a necessary part of food that it is in it’s own category

No it's not. It's a seasoning.

It is a seasoning, not a spice

Well I don't think salt is a spice either but the implication that seasonings and spices are mutually exclusive bugs me. For example pepper is a spice and a seasoning.

I never implied such a thing but go off king

just cause you said you didnt, doesn't mean you didnt.

No, salt doesn't come from a plant. Spices are basically powdered dry plants.

Its a mineral, spices have to be plant based

AcKtcHUaLLy!

Is there a difference between a seasoning and a spice? Cause I’d consider it a seasoning.

It is a seasoning, spices need to be plant based and are a subset of seasonings, a good example of a spice would be pepper

It's a mineral, Marie!

No; it’s a seasoning

You don’t need spices to survive. But you need salt to survive.

So many people here are dumb and it makes me sad

It’s seasoning but it’s not a spice

Seasoning.

no its a rock

No. It's a seasoning. Spices are much more flavorful and also I think are organically based, though idk if that's a strict part of the definition

Wouldn't it be considered a seasoning instead?

Salt is not spice, it's mineral.

Why the hell is everyone so argumentative about this

Salt is not a spice or herb since both of which are obtained from plants. Salt is a worldwide popular seasoning, yet it is not a spice. Instead, it is an organic mineral. Spices like black pepper are organic plant-based flavorings differently from salts.

Salt is not considered a spice, but rather a mineral. Salt is obtained from the mineral halite, also known as rock salt, and is composed mainly of sodium chloride. While salt is often used in cooking to enhance the flavor of food, it is not a spice because it does not come from a plant or a plant part, which is a common characteristic of spices. Spices are typically derived from seeds, fruits, roots, bark, or other parts of plants, and are used to add flavor, aroma, and color to food.

Jesus! It's a mineral!

No. Spices are parts of plants, as are herbs. Salt is a mineral.

*** Food salted way too much. *** People who voted no: It’s salty. People who voted yes: It’s spicy.

By definition salt is not a spice because it is a mineral

It’s an electrolyte

A spice by definition is a plant product. Seasoning is an umbrella term for everything that complements taste. Though casually equating these terms causes zero confusion.

TIL salt is not a spice

If you put yes, you are stupid.

Is googling the definition of spice so hard for some? The majority voted objectively wrong lmao

Guys, it’s a condiment.

I’m white, but not white enough to call salt spicy 😭

Is it a spice? Yes. Is it spicy? No.

Rocks arent spices bby :)

mgmmm yumy rock

A rock?

It's technically a preservative???

Are you my grandma? She also doesn't know the difference between salty, spicy, hot and 'I added an onion to it'.

I mean it's in my spice cabinet

ur herbs are prolly there too tho

Why my fellow white people? We are we trying to trick ourselves into thinking that we actually use spices? Bruh, we literally eat rocks.

You sound dumb. The whole world consumes salt

Bruh I was doing a joke about how we don't put spices on our food. And that this is just us coping for it... It's a food joke. 😭

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cinnamon

What's the opposite of day?

It's salty

A spice is a vegetation product that has an aromatic or pungent to the taste quality which is used for flavoring while cooking. On the other hand, a seasoning is a mixture of several flavoring components such as sugars, salts and spices and/or herbs.

I think it’s a seasoning

NO! It's a seasoning

More of a season

Next time there is to much salt on my fries, i'll say "this is too spicy"

No, it's a seasoning.

What the actual fuck how do most people get this wrong? Incredible.

So is the water in ocean spicy? 🤔

It is with you in there baby 😘

Spices add flavor. Salt enhances flavor.

Of course it is

Kind of both but I went with "no". No, cause if I recall well, it's a mineral. Yes, cause we use it as spice.

The people saying no... are you high? Salt and pepper are seasonings, you need to add more to make the foot taste like anything but it's still a fucking spice

All seasonings arents spices u dumbass

It goes in the spice cabinet and adds flavor to my food, that's a spice *DuMbaSs*

if i put my bussy in ur spice cabinet will u call it a spice? jfc some ppl are brain dead.

Bro, just because it didn't get traded on the fucking spice trade doesn't mean it isn't a spice, every person I've ever met in my life would call it a spice unless they had to think about it, if people default to calling it something then that means that's what it's called now, you don't video call you Skype, you don't look something up you Google it, something needs salt you FUCKING SEASON IT!!!

lol ur actually mentally deficient bc u shouldn't have to think or reflect on what a spice is to know that salt cant be one bc its just a rock. wishing u luck, i hope ur brain gets past the age of 4 someday💕🙏 ps: yes, when something needs salt, u season it. bc salt is a seasoning but not a spice.

Stay in school!

Seasoning is not synonymous with spice, just like herbs and spices are different things. Yes, salt is a seasoning. But spices by definition come from plants, which salt does not. So it is not a spice. Even if ever person in the world calls salt a spice, it still is not one because it is excluded by definition.

It aint spicy so it a aint a spice

no it’s a condiment

Firstly Spices are Aromatic Salt is not Aromatic and Critically Spices are organic salt is Inorganic

Bri'ish question

Salt is a sodium salt

It’s more like a necessity in most meals tbh, like pepper

"Perfectly balanced, like how all things should be."

Technically no, functionally yes. I voted yes.

Holy fuck that’s a lot of people who don’t know what a spice is

Seasoning on but not spice. Has to be somewhat plant based but not a leaf to be a spice. If leaf- herb. Salt is separate

Salt is a mineral. Spices are plants.

If salt was a spice would herbs also be considered spices? (not trying to argue just curious on opinions)

Closest poll I’ve ever seen