March 1st
2008
Salt… as someone who is borderline hypertensive, salt is a treat for me. I keep my health in check through diet and excercise, and I find as many excuses as possible to experiment with new salts.
A little background: All salt is primarily comprised of sodium chloride. All salts that we consume are made from sea salt or mined from inland salt deposits. Their characteristic flavors are derived from the location of the salt deposits, meaning what other minerals are present to enhance the salts’ flavor.
In the right application, gourmet salts really shine.
Let’s take a quick look at some of the more popular “gourmet salts”.
Fleur de Sel
Fleur de Sel is made up of crystals that form naturally on the surface of salt evaporation ponds in France.
Sel Gris
Sel Gris is a “moist” unrefined sea salt usually found on the coastal areas of France. Its light grey, almost light purple color comes from the clay found in the salt flats
Himalayan Pink
Himalayan pink salt is a fossil marine salt and is rich in many minerals including Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, Copper and Iron which gives the salt its beautiful speckled pink color
Cyprus Flake
The Cyprus Flake Salt are known for their large pyramid shaped crystals. Light and fluffy with the mild taste characteristic of Mediterranean salts.
Hawaiian Black Lava Salt
Hawaiian Black Lava Salt is evaporated in above ground pools with purified black lava rock. Activated charcoal is added for color and detoxifying effects.
Some feel that these salts really don’t offer anything as the taste melds too much with the food during cooking and is virtually impossible to taste. Well, they’re probably right…. to an extent.
In my opinion, these salts add a nice refined taste and texture to dishes and are well worth their expense. Some feel that the nuances will be lost when combined with other foods. But When used as a “finishing salt”, meaning added to the dish after it is done cooking and plated, they create sparkle and finesse.
There are also some readliy available sea salts in the supermarket.
This brand is quite popular in commercial kitchens. The coarse salt is especially good when used on raw meats before cooking. The grain will stay through the cooking process and add a definite “sparkle” and crunch to the meat.
hint: gently rub the coarse sea salt, or sel gris, and fresh ground black pepper into the meat with the heel of your hand so the crystals don’t get displaced prior to cooking.
