Limit the consumption of processed foods, and ready meals, and always prioritise fresh produce, as most of the sodium we consume comes from the salt added to processed foods.

Cook without salt and avoid putting the salt shaker on the table. It will take some getting used to at first, but the palate will adapt. To do this:

• Season food with aromatic spices (pepper, paprika, nutmeg, cinnamon, saffron, mustard, ginger…); herbs, both fresh and dried (rosemary, thyme, oregano, laurel, mint…); alliaceous (garlic, onion, shallot…), and citrus fruits, both juice and zest (lemon, orange, lime…).

• Marinating meat and fish before, during (‘escabeches’…), or after cooking, with acidic sauces such as vinegar, citrus fruits, yoghurt…

• Use cooking techniques that concentrate the flavours of food more, such as grilling, steaming, baking in the oven, ‘en papillote’, or microwaving. Make the most of the aromas generated by the cooking itself. Cooking the bones or vegetables well before making a vegetable soup or broth also gives the dish more flavour.

• Versatile culinary tools such as aromatized or flavoured oils, mixtures of spices and sauces, or homemade dressings such as vinaigrettes help add flavour. To make them:
  • For spices or dried herbs, heat some virgin olive oil in a saucepan over low heat until slightly warm (without it burning). When it is warm, remove it from the heat, add the spices and/or dried herbs, and leave to macerate at room temperature for one or two days.
  • In the case of fresh herbs, simply chop them and mix them well with the oil or blend them directly.
• Choose foods that, combined with others enhance the flavours: acidic (vinegar, citrus juices), sweet (jams, dried fruit, honey…), bitter (coffee or dark chocolate), umami (mushrooms, homemade meat broths, dried tomato) or combinations of these, such as sweet and sour sauces like chutneys.