Why is a password salt called a “salt”? [closed]

Answer 1

I had thought it related to the verb salt ...

(salt away) informal put by (money) secretly. 

-- http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/saltx?view=uk

Answer 2

Because before you hash the password, you add a random text to it. So, it looks like as if you add some "salt" to the original "food" ... password :)