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Salt
varieties flourish
Sept . 20, 2007
Suzanne Havala Hobbs
Sure,
there are wine connoisseurs and chocolate aficionados. Some
people even distinguish among grades of olive oil and notice
the nuances of different coffees. Still, I and some readers
have found gourmet salt to be a bit of a puzzle. Salt is salt,
isn’t it?
Apparently, not anymore.
There’s Celtic salt, French sea salt, kosher salt and
Hawaiian sea salt. There’s Black salt, Italian sea salt,
Fleur de Sel and plain old table salt.
And that’s just for starters.
What are the differences among gourmet varieties of salt,
and most importantly: Are they worth the often-hefty extra
cost?
As we consider that question, let’s put one salt fact
right up front: When it comes to seasoning food, the salt
we use – whether it’s from Food Lion or A Southern
Season – is pretty much all the same, a chemical compound
called sodium chloride.
It’s one of the simplest things around. Unlike other
natural resources, there’s also an essentially endless
supply.
The salt that makes it to your table is either rock salt mined
underground from deposits left by ancient salt lakes, or it’s
evaporated from brine or sea water. In a small number of places
around the world, a solar production method is used to collect
salt from shallow pools of water evaporated by wind and warm
temperatures. The source of the salt – and how it’s
treated once it’s collected – is where the subtle
differences lie.
Plain old Morton table salt and similar store brands are mined
and processed into fine granules. Trace minerals are removed,
and an anti-clumping agent such as calcium silicate is added.
And just as vitamin D is added to milk as a sort of mass supplementation
measure, so is salt often fortified with iodine. Since so
many people use ordinary table salt, spiking it with iodine
helps ensure that those who might otherwise have low iodine
intakes get enough to maintain proper thyroid function. Iodized
salt has a tiny amount of dextrose – a form of sugar
– added to keep the salt from turning yellow.
Similar products sold in natural foods stores are marketed
as containing none of the additives commonly used in other
brands of salt, though there’s no evidence that those
additives cause any harm. Natural foods brands – Redmond
RealSalt is one example – tout the fact that they contain
the added nutritional value of trace minerals removed from
other brands.
Nutritionally, these differences are miniscule. More valid
differences between varieties of salt have to do with texture
and flavor.
Salt crystals from evaporated sea water, for example, retain
their natural mineral content, giving subtle differences in
flavor and even color, depending upon where the salt was collected.
Celtic sea salt from the coast of France can be light gray
or pale purple in color. Hawaiian sea salt is pink.
And rock salt crushed into large, sharp-edged crystals gives
a crispy-crunchy quality when it’s sprinkled onto soft
pretzels. Salt can be ground into fine, medium or coarse grains.
Keep in mind that most standard recipes are developed for
use with ordinary, fine-grained table salt. Coarse grinds
don’t fit as compactly into a measuring spoon, so teaspoon-for-teaspoon
they won’t provide as much flavor.
Of course, that could be a good thing. We should all be using
as little added table salt as possible to prevent high blood
pressure and support heart health.
So, if the allure of artisan salt tempts you to use more of
it more often, reconsider. There’s gourmet pepper, too,
and it’s probably a better vice.
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