Q: I have two shakers that are identical, except for the number of holes. How can I tell which is for salt and which is for pepper?

A: There isn’t a definitive answer. Some sources say the salt goes in the one with the most number of holes because you use more of it. But others say since salt was so valuable, it went in the shaker with one hole.

Since pre-ground pepper tastes like dust, I’d skip the whole issue. Use a pepper grinder for the pepper, and put salt in both of the shakers so you can keep one at each end of the table.