salt versus pepper

A 1923 New York Times article about the American restaurant scene noted the comparative popularity of salt over pepper. In the fast food era, the American palate seems to have been completely reversed.

The Americans do not acknowledge any salt in their food, and eat very nearly every little thing without salt, but an enormous quantity of pepper.

The article also made this observation about the Eighteenth Amendment's effects on food offerings:

The American restaurants, since the law of prohibition has been enforced, have come to be very ordinary and uninteresting, and make you astonished at their monotony, lack of initiative, discoveries, and talents.

Why? The article doesn't explain. If anything, one might think that prohibition would cause restaurants to become more inventive, in order to attract customers outside of the now-nonexistent alcohol selection.

Off Stage and At Us Again

Published: Sunday, June 24, 1923