A salty tale - salt explained
The salt debate is hotting up again with doctors concerned about its responsibility for any number of diseases from hyper-tension to obesity calling for salt consumption to be lowered. The FDA is planning legal limits on the amount of salt allowed in processed food.
But salt is probably the single ingredient to emphasize flavor inherent in meat, fish and vegetables. Where would chefs be without it? They throw fistfuls into boiling water before cooking.
Salt is like any other 'evil' ingredient such as butter: use it in moderation. It falls loosely into two categories, the salt you can cook with and the salt you 'finish' with, sprinkling it over the cooked food. For the finishing, buy the best you can afford. If you can't try before you buy, this list of some of the most readily available might help you define what will appeal to your palate. Because no two salts are the same.
In the 1920s, table salt manufacturers in the U.S. began to add iodine to their product to prevent thyroid deficiency problems in the mid-West. These days, purist (or pretentious?) foodies like their salts unrefined and in a myriad of mineral colors.
- Rock salt is unrefined and gray in color.
- Kosher salt is coarse refined rock salt with lime.
- Sea salt is evaporated or distilled from seawater collected in salt pan pools.
- ‘Sel gris’ is unrefined sea salt, named for its gray color.
- Table salt is ground and refined rock salt, sometimes treated with magnesium carbonate (lime) for easy pouring.
Uncommon salts
Fleur de Sel de Guérande. High in mineral content yet low in sodium. Fragrant and glittery, used by bakers on loaves, it's good in cooking for finishing.
Sel gris. Damp, grainy. Good all-rounder for cooking.
Maldon. Flaky crystals, mild, briny, best used only for finishing.
Anglesey. Like Maldon but damper, for finishing.
Balinese salt. Big crystals, subtle flavor, a crunch without salinity – a good cooking salt.
Portuguese crystal flakes. Very intense, very salty, good for finishing.
Panamanian salt. Very salty, floury texture and finish. Cooking salt, good inside a fish cavity.
Chinese Black Pepper Salt. A cooking salt good to add to a steak rub.
Italian Sale Alle Erbe. Small herb-infused grains, good to crust a roasted fish.
Korean salt. Highly salty with a strong sulfuric flavor. Use for cooking.
Japanese Lake salt. Small grains, intense, short finish. A cooking salt.
Australian Lake salt. Larger, dryer grain. Flatter flavor. For cooking and rubs.
Greek salt. Very, very salty and mineral-y fine grained cooking salt.
Himalayan Sel Rose. Dawn pink. Subtle, crunchy texture.
Hawaiian deep orange. Colored by iron oxide with a rustic flavor. Use as a colorful bed for oysters.
Janet Cam is a seasoned Washington salt collector. Read my interview with her for The Washington Post
Add Comment