[russfrank]

No no no no, it is absolutely necessary to salt the different components that go into a dish. Many things will absorb salt during the cooking process. Salt can also draw water out of an item which will change the way it cooks as well, for example with eggplant. You need to be constantly checking the salt level while cooking to ensure your final product is not just salty enough but salted throughout the dish and not just on the outer layer. This is especially true with proteins, all of which need to be salted in advance in order to get proper penetration.

Re your comment about olive oil, an extra virgin olive oil has flavor and it would be pointless to roast with it, but you absolutely need oil while cooking food as it's a thermal interface between your pan or your oven air and your food. Of course there are finishing oils that tend to be something with a lot of flavor like EVOO, sesame oil, or an e.g. rosemary infused olive oil, but most oil needs to be added during cooking.

[baby]

I just wish I could cook two dishes, one with salt during cooking, and one with salt after, and do some blind tests. I bet most people would have no idea which is which.

The same thing happened with expensive coke and cheaper coke, or coke and pepsi, or branded yogurt vs cheap yogurt, or very expensive wines and OK wines. And blind tests tend to show that most people can't tell the difference. Yet everybody is convinced that they can :)

[shalmanese]

I've done the test, the difference is noticeable.

[ip26]

Not to mention blooming your spices.