A Dish Without Salt

One night, a wife jokingly asked her husband.

• If I left you and never came back, how would you feel?

The husband answered

• Ah, the feeling would be similar to food without salt 

The wife was pleased with his husband reply.

But what the husband’s following response was going to upset her…

I will tell you at the end. Don’t scroll down to ruin a good story.

But first, let’s find out why the wife is happy? Why was she delighted to learn that her husband would feel food without salt if she left him? 

It is all because of the “salt.” 

Salt is not just for saltiness but also for sweetness.

One of the traditional dessert dishes in Vietnam is Che Dau Xanh - Translated as Sweet Mung Bean Dessert.

(source: Delightfulplate.com) 

This mouth-watering, sugar-sweet, homemade dessert is served after dinner. It is perfect for hot summer day.

Here is the interesting part

The chef needs to add salt to enhance its sweetness, not sugar. You probably feel strange, but the next time you have watermelon, try to sprinkle a bit of salt on top. You will feel the watermelon tastes sweeter even though you add salt.

(Source unsplash.com) 

Salt is also used to smooth out the sourness. 

To make sushi, the chef usually uses rice vinegar which has a strong taste. To “finetune” the flavour, the chef will add a bit of salt, and suddenly, the taste is just right, not too sour, but savoury.

Have you ever tried meat broth or miso soup (seaweed, kelp and tofu) in the wintertime? These abundant, hearty, and flavorful hot soup taste much better if you have a bit of salt in them.

Salt is an essential ingredient in cooking. Food does not taste the same without salt. From this belief, the wife was happy because she thought the husband implied she was important to his life. 

Revealed: Salt is also one of our secret ingredients to make our agarwood chips and incense smell pleasant when heated.

Let me explain The role of Salt in agarwood creation.

We care for our Aquilaria trees when they are young. But when they are old enough, we need to put pressure on them to create agarwood.

Sometimes we don’t water them for months,  we even rub salt on them.

You probably heard the idiom "rub salt in the wound". 

This is precisely what we do. We rub salt into the wound of our Aquilaria trees to create stress. 

The reason: under these dire conditions, it triggers the tree survival mechanism. Within one month, Agarwood forms under these conditions will increase the production of the two aromatic chromones (aromatic molecules)

When burned as incense, these chromones will provide a lasting pleasant woodiness.

Here is the good news, these 2 chromones are in our agarwood chips

You will enjoy this piquant and woody aroma when you heat our Emptiness Agarwood. Click the picture to learn more

(Our Agarwood Chip: Emptiness)

What about agarwood oil?

In a figurative sense, agarwood oil is a “perfume salt” because it acts as a condiment. 

• It adds complexity to the aroma of perfume. 
• If you have roses and some wood essential oil, It harmonises these ingredients together. 
• It makes your perfume last longer.     
• It adds more value to your perfume. If the consumers know oud oil is one of your ingredients, they are willing to pay more. Just like diamond stones representing luxury in jewellery, agarwood oil represents quality in your perfume. 

Many aromatherapists have tried Evergreen Oud oil, and they love it. This oil adds “flavour” to their blends, and botanical perfume, just like how salt adds flavour to a dish. Super delicious !

Grandawood-Evergreen Agarwood Oil

(Source: Instagram murfeedee)

Ok, let go back to the story. 

Although the wife is content with her husband’s reply, she is upset with what he said after that.

Wife - so you mean I am like the salt, without me, it would be like a dish without salt, less tasty, right?

Husband - Not really, let me ask you a question, what would you do when you run out of salt?

Wife:   -   I may find something else to replace it temporarily and buy a bag full next time 

Husband: - You got it; that is precisely what I would do.

Wife: you are so cheeky! 

Husband: just kidding, let’s have dinner together. I will cook for you tonight.

Note: I am sure you get it, but just in case you skim the details, here is the brief explanation

Wife

• If I left you and never came back, how would you feel?

Husband

• Ah, the feeling would be similar to food without salt 

The wife was pleased, she asked

• Do you mean your life without me, it would be less “flavourful” and boring?

Her husband implied that if there was no salt, he could get a new one or replaced it quickly. When he responded this way, the wife was not happy.