Why does the app keep telling me to salt earlier and more?

Salt isn't a topping — it's an amplifier. It suppresses bitterness and makes every other flavor read louder to your tongue. Food that tastes 'bland' is almost never missing spices; it's missing salt.

Timing matters because salt needs time to travel. Salted just before serving, it sits on the surface: the outside tastes salty, the inside tastes like nothing. Salted before cooking, it dissolves and moves into the food, seasoning it all the way through. This is why chicken gets salted before it hits the pan and pasta water gets salted like the sea — it's the only chance the pasta itself ever gets.

Restaurant food tastes better than home food for many reasons, but the biggest one is embarrassingly simple: they use more salt than you do, added at more moments — a layer during cooking, a check at the end.

Use kosher salt, pinch with your fingers, and taste as you go. Your fingers learn calibration faster than any measuring spoon.