Two years ago I took a cooking class in Paris with Paule Caillat, a charming and knowledgeable cooking teacher. As our delicious lunch drew to a close, Paule hopped up from her seat and said something that surprised me then but that I often think of now...
Paule had cleared our plates and was bringing out the dessert, a gorgeous fig tart sprinkled with pistachios. But then she noticed that the salt dish was still on the table and she threw up her hands and exclaimed, "Ah! What am I thinking to bring out dessert with the salt still on the table?! My mother would have my head!"
I had never heard this before -- don't bring dessert to the table until the salt is taken away? But the more I thought about it the more I liked it. I like to clear plates and any dishes of food off the table before bringing out dessert, creating a little breath of space between the dinner and the sweet, and making space on the table. Taking the salt away too is a small ritual that signals the end of the main course -- we've left the salty, and are on to the sweet.
Do you do this? Is this a French etiquette point that you're familiar with? I thought it was so interesting!
→ See more of Paule's kitchen & cooking class: Kitchen Tour: Paule Caillat's Splendid Paris Kitchen
Related: Mop it Up! The Etiquette of Cleaning Your Plate with Bread
(Images: Faith Durand)
10 Picnic-Ready Salads to Eat Outside
Recipe: Thai Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Red-and-Pink-Stripe...
Ellen's Thirties Style Small Space
Juan's Garage Turned Modern Guest House
We definitely clear anything that's related to the savory realm (salt, pepper, bread, any condiments) before we move on to dessert. It's the same at restaurants here. I hadn't realized this was a French thing -- it just feels like common sense. :)
Yes, common sense. Like changing plates between courses.
We've always done it, too...my mom trained us. She was Norwegian but it always made sense to me. I love rituals like this.
But leave the wine!
We usually don't have salt on the table, but we do clear the table before dessert. Sometimes even when there's no dessert but we want to stay for some chatting.
Yes, I was taught to do so.
Is it a ritual? or just part of clearing the table?
My daughter is a CIA trained chef. She says that salt plays an important role in the chemical composition of flavor in our mouths. Some dishes need a little salt, even desserts. My parents used to routinely sprinkle a little salt on their watermelon so sprinkling it on figs, while not something *I* would do, doesn't seem that outrageous. There's probably salt in the dessert somewhere.
Anyway, salt and pepper shakers are on the table in my house at all times. I don't presume to dictate to my fellow diners when or how to season their food. We're not heavy salters by any means but we're also not going to nanny people about it.
Sugar on the other hand...
It's not specially French - i've been living in France for 20 years now. But indeed, we clear the table before fromage, fromage before dessert, and dessert before café - not always, i like cofee with my fondant au chocolat. As far as I know, is more or less the same thing that in the US
It's a pretty common practice. I was trained to do it years ago when I started serving at a fine dining restaurant.
Unless the bottle's empty, then bring another one ;)
The only time salt is on the table it is alongside pepper when eggs, either poached or soft boiled, are served for breakfast. I come from the school of thought that food should be properly seasoned before serving. There is a big difference in the taste that salt gives food during it's preparation rather than after. When entertaining, salt and pepper make an appearance, but it's usually the salt that is requested by someone who needs the salt fix BEFORE even tasting whether it needs it or not. Speaking of etiquette, when asking for salt, both salt and pepper should be passed together. Never pass the bride without the groom!
I take the salt off the table before dessert. Not because I'm french, but because everything non dessert related is removed before dessert.
Our family always clears the table before desert, but I've never noted that we especially do this with the salt/pepper shakers though it may get cleared without me even noticing as desert is often served a bit later after the meal,letting the meal settle first (and the bulk of the dishes in the dishwasher, or rinsed and stacked for another load).
This us usually at Thanksgiving but often it's done regardless, but like I said, I never noted the salt/pepper being cleared as being mandatory or anything like that, if it gets cleared, fine, if not, no big deal was how I thought of it, if I thought of it at all.
I'm sorry, I find this a bit ridiculous. I never heard of "removing the salt" before, and have no problem with customs like this, but I do have a problem with any "etiquette" and "proper" labels here. Seasoning is personal. I would never presume to comment on anybody's choices, and I have no problem with incidental items like salt shakers being conveniently left on a table when another course is served. If somebody wants to put ketchup on their chocolate mousse, I MIGHT tease them, but if they really like it that way, I will get the ketchup! What makes even an trained chef the arbitor of how *I* eat?
No, it's not part of my cultural practice. We actually don't even have dessert after a meal. We might have "tea" later on though, but the salt stays on the table.
Table? What table? Oh... you mean the coffee table? That's where I eat. But I remove the remote controls first.
"Remove the salt" is a specific instance of "Clear the table before dessert." Salt, pepper, butter, crumbs, bread -- all the supporting cast for dinner.
To my mind, clearing the table is one of the things that separates a formal meal on a formal table from an informal setting:
- Salt and other seasonings are always left on the kitchen table / breakfast nook.
- A dining room table may be cleared only after grand holiday meals.
- TV or coffee tables - sweep those paper salt packets away!
I take it out. But that's also because I have a salt and pepper set, and it seems weird to take out the pepper and not the salt, or leave the pepper for dessert ;)
I thought this was about whether or not you put salt on the dining table at all, if you already seasoned your food... :)
Oh, yes. It drives me nuts to have dinner things on the table when it's time for dessert.
I like the idea, for it tells you "this is another part of the meal, another part of the day". A different mood is now entertained, one of lightness and joy. I remember when the coffee was brought out after dinner and dessert, the adults would go into the living room (yeah, I'm that old) to leisurely talk. Nowadays, dinner is rushed between getting home and watching tv/surfing the web and the like.
Removing the salt from my table will become a part of my dining routine.
::eyeroll:: at people's insistence that the French are profound and ever- wise. If you clear the table between meals, it's common sense to remove everything. In my household, we don't even put salt/black pepper out during a meal.
wow SherryBinNH you do sound awefully angry - we're only talking about salt here.