Salty VS savoury

Question

Hi!What's the difference between salty and savoury ?Thanks

Avangi · Accepted Answer

Without looking it up, I understand savory to describe food which is capable of providing a rich sensory experience which is not limited to just one or two sets of receptors. That is, the taste is made up many elements.

Salt, on the other hand, stimulates only the "salt receptors." If you put salt on your tongue you will taste salt.

Salt is sometimes said to "bring out" the flavor of other edible things. However, too much salt can spoil any good dish, including a dish which would otherwise be considered savory. The salt can overwhelm the other senses, or the brain's ability to distinguish them.

So there's a difference between "salty" and "too salty." Blood tastes salty.

Anonymous · Answer

When I first visited England and I found the food too salty , I commented on it . My English host corrected me though and said that it was too savoury, not too salty. I have checked both words in the Longman online dictionary and I found that the word savoury is more British, so there might be a difference in meaning over the Pond....? I would like another native to try and explain the difference between these two words.

Avangi · Answer

"Savory" may well be "more British," but it's not a synonym for "salty" on either side of the pond.

My guess would be that your host was attempting to correct your taste, rather than your English.

A thing can be too savoury and too salty as well.

He may have thought that you lacked discrimination.
Excessive saltiness by itself can be unpleasant to anyone, whether his tastes are refined or not.

On the other hand, you might say that one must develop a taste for savoriness.

He may have been implying that what to your unrefined taste was saltiness (unpleasant) was in fact savoriness (desirable to the cultivated sensibilities).

Keira76 · Answer

Thanks for the detailed and very clear explanation.....<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>. So, if I prepare scrambled eggs  and I put too much salt in it , which then destroys the final taste , should I say "I am sorry but I am afraid it has become  too salty " or too " savoury "? In this case I would vote for " too salty" because it was the too much salt that destroyed the final outcome.  Do you agree?

Khoff · Answer

Yes, if you put too much salt in something it becomes too salty.  (I've never actually heard anyone describe anythign as "too savoury," but the word  "savoury" is not used as much in the U.S. as in the U.K.)

Avangi · Answer

I agree with Khoff. It's rare to hear that someone dislikes a dish because it's too savory.

But in the scenario you deseribed in your original post, there may be a difference of opinion between you and your host. You don't like it. He does.
Savory is usually a good, rich taste. It's not any one particular taste. Two totally different dishes, prepared with totally different spices and other ingredients, may both be described as savory, and not really taste the same in any way.

Perhaps to you the dish tasted strong and unfamiliar. Perhaps saltiness was the only thing among the many flavours that you could clearly distinguish, so that's the way you identified it.

Young children often find certain dishes unpleasant, and learn to enjoy them greatly in later life.

keira76So, if I prepare scrambled eggs and I put too much salt in it , which then destroys the final taste , should I say "I am sorry but I am afraid it has become too salty " or too " savoury "?

If salt were the only thing you added to the scrambled eggs, I can't imaging how it could make them savory in the least, and certainly not too savory!

If you like a dish because it excites your taste buds, you might say, "Boy! this is really savory," meaning "Boy, this is really tasty!" (This tastes good!)

But if you say, "Boy! this is really salty!," you're definitely complaining about it!

Best regards, - A.

Thanks for joining English Forums, by the way. Welcome! [<:o)]

Catherine Demorvan · Answer

Savoury generally just means "not sweet".

Eg, asking about a dish of food. Is it sweet or savoury?

Avangi · Answer

Catherine DemorvanSavoury generally just means "not sweet".
Eg, asking about a dish of food. Is it sweet or savoury?

I'm definitely getting the idea that there's a lot of conceptual difference about taste from one culture to another.
When my wife was learning English, she used "salt" to mean "not sweet." It would indicate that she wanted some kind of a meat dish as opposed to a dessert.
Throughout my upbringing as a native speaking wasp, the opposite of "sweet" was "sour."

But I certainly agree with you, to the extent that I would never describe a dessert as savory!
I suppose I might apply the term to certain dry wines (not sweet), but then, there's scarcely a word which isn't used from time to time to describe a wine.

[D]

I cannot think of a "dish of food" in New England traditional cuisine which I would describe as "sweet."
But whenever I'd end up in Boston or New York I'd head for Chinatown and load up on sweet and sour pork (in the 50's).

Keira76 · Answer

All right. I think I am getting it. Savoury is the opposite of sweet when you want to speak about what kind of food you want to eat in UK or USA or Canada or Australia - while in many other countries people would say "salty" in their own language . However, you - native English speakers - will only use the adjective "salty" to describe things that taste of salt. (like salty water or "blood "). So, if something is too salty, it obviously means containing too much salt thus tasting of salt, which then is a complaint . Consequently, we should be careful with these words. I must have become confused about the word salty because my ex-host said we - foreign speakers of English - used the word salty in the wrong way. For some mysterious reason I thought he meant there was no such word as salty at all and that we should totally avoid that. As a result, I was quite surprised when I came across such expressions as 'salty water" later on. I might not have said the food was too salty, I might have said I 'd prefer to eat something salty, which he corrected accordingly. Unfortunately, I can't remember it now, it was ages ago.

Avangi · Answer

keira76I think I am getting it.

I agree. [Y]

I think if I had to come up with a synonym in English for my understanding of "savory," it would be "flavorful." I would not use either one to describe a "banana split" with lots of ice cream, hot fudge, caramel, and marshmallow - much as I love 'em!

Salty VS savoury

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