Salt.  It seasons food and preserves food.  Salt is boiled down and crystallized to different levels of fineness.  The debate over taste or which salt is superior is all a matter of personal preference.  I don’t profess to be an expert.  This is just what I’ve learned over the years about salt.  I’m sure there is a lot more information available, but over the years family members keep asking the question of which salt to use for what recipe so it spurred me to write this little clip.

Salt from the earth can be broke into a couple of groups:  Rock salt, course salt and table salt.    Coarse salt can be used both in cooking and in a salt mill at the table.  It can also be used to cure food and for flavoring meats with a salt base (such as fish or rib roast).  Table salt is finer ground course salt.  It sometimes contains chemical products to help it stay easy flowing.  I personally never use table salt.  I use a salt grinder with sea salt for the table.  Rock salt usually refers to the salt used to produce ice cream and is inedible.

 

(Rock Salt for ice cream)

(Coarse salt or often referred to as Kosher salt)

Salt from the sea is considered among many chefs as the “premium” salts.  They are lower in sodium chloride and heavier in trace elements.  They are produced by evaporation using either sun or wind.  English sea salt is very salty and is shaped like a flake.  France has a gray color and has a more delicate flavor than the English sea salt.  Fleur de Sel which means “flower of salt”  is one of the rarest salts and has to be harvested manually so therefore the cost of this salt tends to be higher than the rest.

  (Sea salt, I use in salt grinder at table)

(Fleur de Sel or French sea salt – used for finishing dishes (after they are cooked usually or in caramels, yum)

That leaves us with black salt which is also referred to as Sanchal, it is common in Indian and Hawaiian cooking.  Hawaii also boasts of a pink salt which is used in Luau’s (such as the whole pig roast). There are many other salts from various parts of the world, but these would be less known to those not cooking within their ethnic cuisine.

 

Salt should be stored in a dry place to keep it from caking. Kept properly it will store indefinitely  I don’t recommend storing salt in silver salt shakers or containers as the salt reacts with the silver causing a green color.  A storage container that keeps out light and moisture is the best way to keep it for longer periods of time.  I prefer wood, but some people just use mason jars kept in the cupboard.

Salt has many uses.  You can draw out bitterness and liquid from vegetables using salt.  Cucumbers and eggplants are often salted prior to cooking with salt to release their juices. The vegetables are sliced thin, salted and placed in a colander.  They are then squeezed out.  This process is called degorging.  Some feel this pulls out the natural flavor of the vegetable and reduces the quality of the vegetable.  This is personal taste.  Some recipes distinctly call for salting vegetables prior to cooking to remove the moisture so that the item can fry better.  I always follow this recommendation if it is required by the author.

Salt also balances yeast and is almost always included in baking, especially bread.  Salt is the background for all other spices.  Since salt raises the boiling point of water, it should be added for pasta and potatoes after the water has come to a boil.  Salt added to egg whites relaxes the protein making it easier to whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks.

Preserving with salt has been done since Roman times.  Salting olives, seafood and cheese is most commonly known.  Salt limits the microorganisms that can grow and inhibits bacterial growth.  For example, preserved lemons are used in Morrocan and other ethnicities for cooking and are easily made with lemons, water and salt.  Dry-salting is the process of applying coarse salt to food prior to storage.  Most people know this process if they have tasted Italian Prosciutto.  Brining is a soaking salt solution which is used for large cuts of meat or fish (I will cover this in another article).

Spice and herb salts are used often and rarely thought about.  We all know celery salt from Bloody Marys, garlic and seasoned salt from numerous recipes that we all use and some of the less used salt blends such as porcini salt, krazy salt, and truffle salt just to name a few.

 

 

So bottom line, rock salt (ice cream).  Course or Kosher salt (general cooking when not specified), sea salt (cooking or finishing, I prefer as a finishing salt such as on pretzels, caramels, some breads or dishes that call for it); specialty salts such as black or pink (only when used for specific cuisines.)

Hope this helps for those that asked.  Just remember, it’s your kitchen and your taste.  The most common problem is that people under salt, especially meat.  They also forget to add a second layer of salt to a meal that cooks for an extended period of time.  Experiment and forget what the experts say….use what salt you want…… and as you start to get more adventurous cooking with salt there will be one less expression that you will hear at the table……. pass the salt.