On Salts ...
I love salt and I hate bland foods. I do however fear the day that my doctor may tell me to cut back on my intake of the stuff. Salt = flavor ... well so does fat. The thing is, without a healthy and appropriate amount of salt in our foods, our tongues aren't capable of realizing the true potential of even the most inspired combination of ingredients.
Except for the very occasional Big Mac (THERE DYLAN ... I admitted it!) I eat very little processed food. Because of that, I assume that I do pretty well with my intake. It is very difficult to devour too much salt when you are in charge of its addition into your everyday foods. It's only when you rely on prepackaged and long preserved foods that you risk really exceeding your daily recommended amount.
Salt is extremely important in your kitchen, but while most people make do with the standard iodized table salt, there so many kinds of other varieties of salt out there!
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| A chunk of pink Himalayan salt that was a gift. This little gem has AMAZING flavor! |
Different types of salt
Table salt…this is a fine grained salt used by most of us in salt shakers and in our home kitchens. Pretty neutral in flavor, it dissolves quickly in warm water. Table salt also contains anti caking additives, which make it flow evenly in humid weather, and iodine for health reasons. It is my absolute recommendation to NEVER use this salt. It has higher sodium levels and it is extremely easy to over salt dishes using table salt.
Kosher salt…Kosher salt is simply salt free from additives. Kosher salt can be finely grained or slightly larger, and is most often used by home cooks in canning or meat brines. The lack of additives makes for clearer brines, and does not impart any unwanted additive flavors over long preservations. This is the salt I use un my kitchen about 95% of the time!
Sea salt…sea salt is harvested after piping sea water onto a flat field, allowing the sun to evaporate the water, and collecting the salt that remains. Sea salt is often prized by cooks as it offers a much more complex taste. Sea salt contains additional fine deposits of other minerals which accounts for its varied and complex taste. The area from where the salt is harvested, and the mineral properties of the water in that location, affect the flavor. Sea salt can come both finely grained or more granular in nature.
Fleur de sel…very expensive sea salt from the northern Atlantic coast of France. The slightly gray salt from this reason is complex and elemental in nature and very prized…the fleur de sel is the very top of the evaporated salt layer, and is comprised of flake like crystals of salt, perfect for sprinkling on a great steak after cooking. The texture and crunch of this pricy sea salt is as prized as the taste.
Industrial or rock salt…salt sold in large crystals, not processed and full of impurities, this salt is normally used as road salt, ice cream machine salt, etc.
Other sea salts…there are salts of varying hues harvested from all of the world's oceans, and they all offer a subtle difference in taste.
Any way you slice it, salt is a necessity in any kitchen whether it's the White House, your neighborhood pub, or the one in your own home. Experiment with salt and, as long as you drink a lot of water, it's difficult to eat too much of the stuff!
