Salt and pepper

Salt and pepper are the common names for edible salt and ground black pepper, which are ubiquitously paired on Western dining tables as to allow for the additional seasoning of food after its preparation.

Salt and pepper are typically maintained in separate shakers on the table, but they may be mixed in the kitchen.

[1] They may be considered condiments or seasonings; salt is a mineral and black pepper is a spice.

[2] Its pairing with pepper as table accessories dates to seventeenth-century French cuisine, which considered black pepper (distinct from herbs such as fines herbes) the only spice that did not overpower the true taste of food.

[3] Some food writers like Sara Dickerman have argued that, in modern cookery, a new spice could be used in place of the historic ground black pepper.