I have a question that i wonder a lot about nowadays. Since quitting drinking, i put a lot of time and mind into cooking. I've come to the stage now of trying to assemble dishes .. like the professionals do.
So i try to think about percentages, weight and volume. And flavour.
So i try this spice mix, dried, and grind it in a granite mortar. If you do that, the spice taste more.
Parsley
Basil
Smoked paprika (can use regular paprika, gets a more direct unsweetened/unsmoked paprika flavour)
Rosé pepper
Cayenne pepper
Salt
Now, as an easy example. How much percentage of salt should be in it? If you use 1 tablespoon of each, you get 1/6 of the volume in salt. I have not weighed that exact amount yet, but let's say 1 tablespoon of salt weighs 5 grams, and the other spices 15 grams in total. Herbs and spices weigh less than salt. That's 20 grams in total, with 25% of the total amount as salt.
You use 2 teaspoons of this spice mix in every dish, every day, 3-4 dishes every day. Say 1 teaspoon is 1 gram. Using 6 grams every day, 25% as salt, you get 1.5 grams of salt every day - apart from what is in any other product you eat.
Regular human salt consumtion should be about 6 grams every day.
That is a healthy amount. It even means you can use a bit MORE salt in the spice mix, for stronger salt flavour. It enhances the flavour of the other spices too, at least in my experience. I use a special salt called celtic sea salt. It has much more flavour than regular salt.
Thinking like this, with every dish you make, regulating everything to make a composition - makes cooking much more fun. In the process of making a lasagna dish now, a big one, 6 kg of tomatoes and all that... making big portions so one can freeze down smaller portions.
But is this something professionals do? I mean that's the real challenge isn't it... and that's how you make good food. And it's hard to do, thinking about flavours, weight, volume, cooking time, composition... but it's fun. Takes a lot of mind work ^^
Doesn't matter when you put a half gallon a gravy on top of every meal.