A Brief History of Salt
World second biggest Himalayan Salt Mine in Pakistan
Salt mainly made from sodium chloride and other chemical compounds, salt is found throughout seawater and various rock formations. Salt is a naturally occurring mineral located almost everywhere in the world, from the ponds of France to the caves of Pakistan.
Salt is one of the most sought after substances in the world not
only for its flavor enhancing, but for also being essential to the human body
in order for the brain to send vital electrical signals throughout the body. It
is so desired by humankind that it was once a form of payment in Ancient Roman
times, which is where we get the word "salary."
Salt is most commonly used for flavoring foods as it enhances
their aroma. It is also excellent for food preservation and cleaning due to its
antibacterial properties. Different types of salt can have different effects on
your foods, so it's important to select the right salt for your application.
One thing that is important to note is that the size of the salt grain will
impact the flavor strength and the amount of salt needed in a recipe.
Therefore, you should not interchange one salt type for another as it will
impact your final result.
Not only did salt serve to flavor and preserve food, it made a
good antiseptic, which is why the Roman word for these salubrious crystals
(sal) is a first cousin to Salus, the goddess of health. Of all the roads that
led to Rome, one of the busiest was the Via Salaria, the salt route, over which
Roman soldiers marched and merchants drove oxcarts full of the precious
crystals up the Tiber from the salt pans at Ostia. A soldier’s pay—consisting
in part of salt—came to be known as solarium argentum, from which we derive the
word salary. A soldier’s salary was cut if he “was not worth his salt,” a
phrase that came into being because the Greeks and Romans often bought slaves
with salt.
Ancient Times
About 4,700 years ago, the Chinese Png-tzao-kan-mu, one of the
earliest known writings, recorded more than 40 types of salt. It described
two methods of extracting and processing salt, similar to methods still in
use today.
Writings on salt no doubt also existed on the clay tablets of
Ancient Babylon and on Egyptian papyri. Even without written evidence we can be
fairly certain that salt-making and use was a feature of life in all ancient
communities. Where isolated from modern trade and technology, some still today
make salt by the same prehistoric methods.
In the British Isles, prehistoric man will have made his salt from
sea water or from the few places where inland brine springs had been
discovered. Traces of these activities are difficult to identify but
archaeological evidence is now reaching back into the Bronze Age.
Cheshire was on a Neolithic trade route which crossed the salt
fields where Iron-Age Britons probably traded Westmoreland stone axe-heads for
salt.
Iron Age
Archaeological evidence of Iron Age salt-making in Britain has
been largely based on the discovery of remnants of coarse pottery vessels and
supporting pillars recognised as being connected with salt-making and known as
briquetage. Sea water or brine from inland springs was evaporated in these
vessels over fires to give a residual lump of salt.
There have been extensive finds of Iron Age briquetage in the
Lincolnshire and East Anglia Fenlands and along the Essex coastline. Here the
sea water was concentrated in pottery pans 60cm wide, 120cm long, and about
12mm thick. The strong brine was then evaporated in small pottery
vessels supported on pillars to give the lump of salt which was obtained by breaking
the vessels.
Archaeological digs at salt-making sites in Cheshire and
Worcestershire have produced relatively small amounts of briquetage when
compared with the coastal sites. It appears that the finished salt was
distributed in the characteristic coarse pottery vessels in which it was made.
The briquetage from these vessels has thus been discovered at Iron Age
settlements over a wide area of Wales and western England.
Clay dug between Middlewich and Nantwich has been shown to have
been used to make the pottery fragments found at these Iron Age sites.
Archaeologists have also found evidence of iron-age salt-making in the area
between Middlewich and Nantwich.
At Middlewich (Salinae) excavations have revealed brine kilns on
which Iron Age type earthenware vessels of brine were heated.
Roman Times
In Britain, lead salt pans were used by the Romans at Middlewich,
Nantwich and Northwich and excavations at Middlewich and Nantwich have revealed
extensive salt-making settlements.
Roman soldiers were partly paid in salt. It is said to be
from this that we get the word soldier – ‘sal dare’, meaning to give salt. From
the same source we get the word salary, ‘salarium’.
Salt was a scarce and expensive commodity and its value was
legendary. To sit above or below the salt identified precedence in the seating
arrangements at a feast, according to one’s rank. Not to be worth one’s salt
was a great insult. The Bible compliments some men as being ‘the salt of the
earth’.
At the time of the Roman Conquest, British salt making had
been long established at numerous coastal sites and at the inland brine springs
of Cheshire and Worcestershire. Salt was a vital commodity to the Roman army
and this demand will have been met by establishing military salt works. At the
inland sites the nearly saturated natural brine would require much less fuel
and time to make salt than from the evaporation of weakly saline sea water.
The Roman army’s advance to the North reached Cheshire by around
60AD and established military bases at Chester and Middlewich. Chester was a
supply port and a convenient military base from which to gain control of North
Wales with its lead and silver mines. At Middlewich a fort was built on a
defensive site above the River Dane and this became a staging post on the main
military road to the North. At Middlewich the Romans established their
saltworks on land by the River Croco between the military fort and the site of
the existing Celtic salt making settlement.
At both Middlewich and Nantwich digs have produced a wealth of
Roman period finds such as leatherwork, pottery and timber-lined, clay-packed
pits. But both sites appear to lack the mass of briquetage which has been a
feature of other salt making sites and indicative of Iron Age/ Bronze Age
occupation. Middlewich has produced some briquetage indicative of early salt
making but the Nantwich 2002 dig appears to have been a Roman lead pan site
without earlier or later occupation. But no evidence remained of supporting
substructures for the pans.
Anglo Saxons
There has been continuous salt production on the same sites at
Droitwich from the Iron Age through the
Roman and Medieval periods, and up to the 20th century.
However, in Cheshire, recent archaeology at both Nantwich and
Middlewich has confirmed that the Romans established new salt works on green
field sites which were then abandoned and returned to agriculture.
This was either with their departure in the 5th century or
possibly even during the occupation. One explanation is that these were Roman
Army saltworks, providing salt for their own needs, while Romano-British salt
makers occupied long established Celtic salt making sites nearby and continued
to supply the traditional needs of the local population and the itinerant
traders who travelled into Wales and to the North. These long established sites
were in time to become the
Coastal Salt
Making
Domesday also records those manors which owned coastal salt making
sites (salinae or salterns) along the coast between Lincolnshire and Cornwall.
Quoted estimates of the number of such manors are between about 300 and 1195
but, whatever the number, it was considerable. The main concentrations were in
the Lincolnshire- East Anglian fenlands and along the South coast.
Coastal salt-making in England took what advantage it could
of solar evaporation and tended to be seasonal. But the final stage
to give dry salt always involved evaporating the brine over a fire, at first in
ceramic vessels and later in lead pans. As a result of Fenland drainage many of
these sites are now several miles inland and have been the subject of extensive
archaeology.
Normans &
Late Medieval
Production methods remained unchanged for a thousand years after
the Roman occupation. Salt boiling was bound by ritual and tradition.
Blood or white-of-egg was used as a coagulant for precipitating marl; urine,
presumably as a froth flotation agent.
Until the 19th century, the main use for salt was to preserve
food for the winter months. Salt was probably the first traded commodity.
If not available locally it would have to come from afar by packhorse or boat
(or, in desert lands, by camel caravan.)
The arrival of the Normans brought no immediate change to the salt
making industry of Cheshire. The three “Wiches” continued to be held equally by
the King (now William) and the Anglo-Saxon Earl Edwin. But all this was to
change following the rebellion of 1070 and William’s laying waste to the
county. For a brief period Gherbod, the Flemish noble, was Earl of Chester, but
after a year he returned home, William’s nephew Hugh of Avranches became the
first Norman Earl and divided the Manors of the county amongst his men.
Northwich and Middlewich, were retained in lordship by Earl Hugh but the
unnamed third Wich in the Hundred of Warmundestrou, (in time to become
Nantwich) was granted to William Malbank and became known as Wich Malbank. In
spite of the changes of lordship we know from Domesday that the Anglo-Saxon
laws and customs of salt making were retained.
The Lost “Wich”
Domesday also reveals that Cheshire had another “wich” in
Anglo-Saxon times. The entry for the lost manor of Burwardestone includes a
salt house which was claimed to have belonged to the Bishop of Chester. But
Earl Hugh had granted the manor with its salt house to Robert Fitzhugh and the
1094 Foundation Charter of the new Abbey of St Werberg in Chester records that
a salt house “at Fulwich” was included in Robert Fitzhugh’s gift. Burwardstone
has been identified with the present day Township of Iscoyd which is now in
Maelor Saiseg, the detached part of Flint, and adjacent to the Township of
Wigland, in Cheshire.
The Fulwich brine pits were at two hamlets along the Wychbrook
valley known as Higher and Lower (or Over and Nether) Fulwich. With the Statute
of Rhuddlan in 1284 Flint was created and the river became the boundary with
Wales but the Fulwich name was retained; maybe because brine pits were on both
sides of the river. Later in the middle ages the name Fulwich was changed to
Dirtwich.
According to Domesday the three Cheshire salt towns were waste in
1071, and they had only partly recovered by 1086. Droitwich in
Worcestershire,on the other hand, suffered little damage as a result of the
Conquest. Worcestershire Domesday lists 318 salt houses and refers to the
existence of lead pans, a lead smithy, furnaces and the need for firewood.
There is however no mention of laws and customs although these are likely to
have been similar to those in Cheshire. At this time and before 1066 Droitwich
was much the most important centre of inland salt production and produced more
than the whole of Cheshire.
The size of lead pan and the technology of open pan salt
making remained essentially unchanged for over one thousand years but the
only surviving documentary reference to the use of blood, eggs and ale as
additives to the brine date from the 16th century. The protein in these
additives helped to clarify turbid brine from the pit by forming a froth in
which the fine suspended solid matter was collected and skimmed off. This
technique called “froth flotation” is still used today in mineral processing.
Agricola in De Re Metallica decribes the use of blood, eggs and ale as brine
additives in early 16th century Saxony. It is possible that the common use of
these additives in both Cheshire and Saxony may have been more than coincidence
and could have dated back to the Roman occupation.
Salt in the Tudor & Stuart Period
By the Tudor & Stuart periods the population of England
had returned to the level preceding the Black Death. Salt was still
brought to London from coastal salt pans of France and Southern England but by
the 16th century a considerable quantity of salt came from Scotland where cheap
coastal coal was evaporating seawater in iron pans.
Elizabeth, in the 1560′s, seeking to emulate the Scottish practice
granted a patent for the use of new types of iron pan that would give the
Tyneside salter a market advantage over the imported salt. Although
unsuccessful, subsequent Tudor & Stuart administrations were to make
repeated attempts to stimulate the coastal salt making so that all English salt
needs would come from English and Scottish sources. By the 17th century this
involved negotiation with the Salters Company which had been now joined by the
salt traders of the main East and South coast salt towns.
The Cheshire Salt Industry
Meanwhile the Droitwich and Cheshire inland salt industry had
continued to supply the inland area of the North and West and had minimal
impact on the London market. The fine salt produced by boiling brine in lead
pans was considered less suitable for fishery use than the coarse sea salts and
with the high cost of land carriage it was no doubt unable to meet London
prices.
Another problem facing the Cheshire salt industry was the growing
shortage of coppiced timber to fuel the fires for salt making. An increasing
population demanded more agricultural land and the managed coppice woodland was
also at a premium due to a competing demand for wood to produce the charcoal
needed by the iron industry which had migrated into Cheshire from the south.
How Do You Make Salt
Have you ever wondered how the salt in your saltshaker is made?
Where does the salt that’s spread onto the roads come from?
The answer, here in the United Kingdom at least, is the salt comes
from underground salt deposits. We use two different methods to extract that
salt: Rock Salt Mining and Solution Mining.
Rock Salt Mining
Rock Salt Mining happens underground with the salt being
physically dug out of the ground. Enormous machines work in a network of
gigantic caverns and tunnels, drilling, blasting and crushing rock.
Most of the salt dug out of the ground is used for keeping the
roads free of ice during the winter (or “gritting the roads” as it’s more
commonly known)
Rock Salt Production
The rock salt we use for gritting roads comes from mines of
ancient underground salt deposits. In the UK, mines are situated in Cleveland,
County Antrim and below the Cheshire town of Winsford.
As the temperature drops to near freezing point you’ll often see grittier
lorries out, spreading their loads to prevent the roads from becoming icy. But
it’s not grit they’re spreading. It’s actually salt. And the salt we use for
gritting roads comes from mines of ancient underground salt deposits. In the UK
these mines are situated in Cleveland, County Antrim and below the Cheshire
town of Winsford.
There are many hundreds of salt beds or domes (as they are
sometimes known) across the world. Mines vary in depth from 100 metres to a
mile or more underground. Within the mines, there are networks of tunnels and
caverns formed as the salt is extracted. These tunnels are used by mining
vehicles to move from one part of the mine to another and by personnel to
travel from the mine entrance to the working face.
The size and scale of these tunnels is immense. In fact in the
UK’s salt mines there are more than 140 miles of tunnels – that’s almost as
long as the M5 motorway!
Cut and Blast Mining
In “cut and blast mining” a slot is cut at the base of the rock
face using a machine called an undercutter, with a jib carrying a series of
tungsten-carbide picks. This is the “cut” part of the process.
The face is then drilled with a series of carefully sited holes,
using an electro-hydraulic rotary drill. The holes are charged with explosives
and detonated, yielding about 1,200 tonnes of broken rock salt. This is the
“blast” part of the process.
The rock blasted from the face is then crushed into pieces about
the size of a football and then carried on a conveyor belt to the main crusher.
This breaks the rock down into smaller pieces, passing through a sieve to
ensure that it has reached the correct size for use in road de-icing. The salt
is then hoisted to the surface in skips.
Continuous Mining
Continuous mining produces smaller lumps of rock than the cut and
blast technique. A boring machine, similar to a pneumatic drill used in digging
up roads, is used. It has a rotating head, carrying tungsten-carbide tips,
which bores into the salt. The lumps are then taken directly to a crushing and
screening plant, without the need to be crushed by a feeder-breaker first.
Before storage, the salt is treated with an anti-caking agent to
stop the pieces coagulating. This ensures that it can be held in local storage
depots, ready for use on the roads as soon as frost is forecast.
White Salt Production
The table salt in your saltshaker and the salt used in food
production is the end product of a two-step process of extraction and
refinement – called Solution Mining and Brine Evaporation.
Solution Mining
In solution mining, salt is extracted by forcing water under
pressure into a bore-hole drilled into an underground salt bed or dome.
The salt dissolves, turning the water into brine and creating a
cavern in the salt-bed. The brine is then pumped back to the surface and on to
the purification plant where calcium, magnesium and other impurities are
removed before beginning the brine evaporation process.
This is the most common process used in Northern Europe to make both industrial and edible salt. In solution mining, water is pumped into the underground rock salt deposits to create brine that is then pumped back out to the surface.
The brine is then evaporated in huge evaporating vessels to make
the familiar white salt. This salt can be used in industry, by food
manufacturers and, of course, at the table.
Brine Evaporation
In hot countries, salt is also produced by allowing the sun to
evaporate seawater in shallow pools (or ‘pans’) in a method called Solar Salt
Production. Sadly because of our low average temperatures and high rainfall,
there’s no solar salt production in the UK.
“With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt,” says Leviticus 2:13. Because of its use as a preservative, salt became a token of permanence to the Jews of the Old Testament. Its use in Hebrew sacrifices as a meat purifier came to signify the eternal covenant between God and Israel. In one biblical case, salt symbolized a lack of fidelity. In Genesis 19:1-29, two angels of the Lord command Lot, his wife and two daughters to flee the sinful city of Sodom without ever looking back. When Lot’s wife cast a fleeting glance backward (her faith was uncertain), she was immediately transformed into a pillar of salt. A Roman religious ritual, however, in which grains of salt were placed on an eight-day-old babe’s lips, prefigures the Roman Catholic baptismal ceremony in which a morsel of salt is placed in the mouth of the child to ensure its allegorical purification. In the Christian catechism, salt is still a metaphor for the grace and wisdom of Christ. When Matthew says, “Ye are the salt of the earth/’ he is addressing the blessed, the worthy sheep in the flock, not the erring goats.
Population and Salt Demand
Throughout history and up to the industrial revolution, the prime
reason for making salt was the preservation of food for the winter months. If
not obtainable locally it would have to be obtained from afar by packhorse or
boat [or, in desert lands, by camel caravan.] Salt was probably the first
traded commodity.
Clearly the demand for salt will have varied with the size of the
population. Between 1066 and the mid-fourteenth century, England’s population
roughly doubled and hence so did the demand for salt.
In addition to Worcestershire and Cheshire, there were many
coastal saltworks. These were most numerous in the Lincolnshire and Norfolk
Fenlands, and along the south coast especially, Sussex. These coastal centres
maintained a considerable export trade of white salt with the continent, this
being the prime source of the coastal industry’s prosperity. The inland salt
industry of Droitwich and Cheshire remained of local importance. Land carriage
costs were such that any salt reaching London by this means would only be
affordable by the rich. English salt was brought to London mainly from the
coastal salt works but the chief source of salt was the Biscay coast.
With Henry II’s marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, a large
area of south west France came under the English crown. There was an assured
English and North European market for Gascon wine and Biscay salt. This trade
prospered through the 13th century with imports into England through London and
the ports of southern England. In London the trade of the salt merchants was localised
in the Bread Street area and here they formed a Fraternity of Salters for their
mutual aid; later to become a chief City Livery Company.
Salt production is one of the oldest chemical practices performed by man. Although salt is produced naturally when seawater evaporates, the process can easily be reproduced to create a higher yield. Some salt is still produced using ancient methods, but new, faster, and less expensive methods have been developed. Depending on the source of the salt and the technique used to create it, the end product will have different flavors and textures.
Today there
are three main methods for obtaining salt:
Evaporation from sea water
Mining salt from the earth
Creating salt brines
Most common
table salts are a product of salt brines, while specialty or gourmet
salts are still produced via evaporation of seawater; salts used for
industrial purposes are obtained through mining. China is the largest producer
followed by the Pakistan and United States. Of the 220 million tons of salt,
only 6 percent is used for human consumption.
Sea Salt
Salt accounts
for about 3.5 percent of the world's oceans. It is naturally produced when
shallow ponds and bays dry up in the sun and the wind and large salt crystals
are left behind where the salty water once was. When producing sea salt on an
industrial scale, seawater is placed in large "concentrating ponds"
to allow efficient evaporation from the sun and the wind. The manufacturing of
sea salt can only be performed in areas with low rainfall in order for enough
time to pass for evaporation. For this reason, sea salt is often produced in
dry climates such as the Mediterranean and Australia.
Sea salt is
also produced on a much smaller scale and by ancient, skilled
techniques. Fleur de sel is an example of an artisan salt that is
still, to this day, produced by old-fashioned methods. This light, flaky
salt is manufactured in small ponds in France and is only made during the
summer months of May to September.
Rock Salt
Rock salt
(also known as halite) is present in the rocky under layers of the Earth's
surface and can be extracted through deep-shaft mining. These large
deposits of salt are the result of ancient underground waterways that have long
since dried up.
Rock salt is
extracted through dynamite, similar in fashion to the mining of any other
mineral. Once it is brought to the Earth's surface, it is crushed and used for
industrial and other non-food purposes. This type of salt contains many
minerals and other impurities.
Salt Brines
While the ocean
is a natural salt brine, hydraulic mining (or solution mining) of salt involves
pumping water below the earth's surface to dissolve salt deposits and create a
salt brine. This brine is then pumped to the surface and evaporated to create
salt. The salty brine may be treated prior to evaporation to reduce mineral
content, yielding a nearly pure sodium chloride crystal. This method is
inexpensive, has a high yield, and produces a very clean salt. Most table
salt is produced with this method.
What's the Difference
Between Kosher Salt and Kosher Certified Salt?
While
"koshering" is the act of extracting the
blood, "Kosher" is a certification that can be used for any
type of salt that is made properly under kosher supervision.
Types of Sea Sal
Smoked Salt
This salt is
slowly smoked over a fire for generally two weeks, and gives your meats and
heartier vegetables a smoky and woody flavor. Each smoked sea salt is usually
different depending on the wood it is smoked with, such as hickory, oak,
mesquite, and alder.
Common
uses: Cooking or finishing meats and hearty vegetables for a smoky flavor
Hawaiian Salt
Originally
used to bless tools, homes, and canoes on the Hawaiian Islands, this salt is
now used to add a finishing touch and robust flavor to seafood and meats, as
well as traditional island dishes like poke and pipikaula. The coarse grains
offer a slightly briny flavor. This salt comes in two varieties:
Lava Salt: sea
salt that has been mixed with charcoal which gives it a black color and a
slight hint of sulfur flavor (Also known as Hawaiian black salt or Hiwa kai)
Alaea Salt
sea salt that
has been mixed with alaea clay which gives it a red color and a mild flavor
(Also known as Hawaiian red salt)
Fleur de Sel
Labeled as the
"Caviar of salts" due to its high price, this salt is only produced
off the coast of Brittany, France during the months of May to September.
Because of its paper-thin delicate crystals, fleur de sel can only be extracted
on sunny, dry, and slightly breezy days with a traditional wooden rake. This
salt is perfect as a finishing salt for savory meals, and even sweets like
chocolate and caramel. It features a light briny flavor and a highly desirable
blue-gray tint.
Celtic Salt
Also
recognized as "sel gris," Celtic salt is extracted from the
mineral-rich seawater on the coastal shores of France. It is harvested using
the traditional Celtic methods of raking the salt from the bottom of tidepools
after it has sunk and collected further minerals. This slightly moist artisan
salt holds a briny taste with a gray hue that is perfect for cooking with or
serving on meats and fish!
Flake Salt
Typically
taken and crafted from the coastal regions of England, flake salt has most of
its water content evaporated, producing a dryer, and more pyramid-like crystal.
It dissolves more quickly than some other sea salts, adding dynamic pops of
flavor in your dish. It's perfect as a finishing salt on meats, blending with
herbs and spices to create a unique spice blend, or adding onto baked goods for
a bold flavor contrast.
Rock Salt
Rock salt is
salt that has been extracted from underground salt mines through the process of
mining with dynamite and then crushed further for food use. It can be found
under the rugged layers of the Earth's surface and is scientifically known as
halite. Rock salt is a popular salt type for specialty applications.
Rock salt has
various benefits. It:
Contains more
natural minerals and elements found in the human body
Adds
eye-appeal when used for rimming cocktail glasses
Gives flavor
dimensions and additional texture on breads and other baked goods
Can be used to
cure and remove toxins from meats
Himalayan Salt
Being the
purest salt in the world and containing 84 minerals that are found in the human
body, it is no wonder that Himalayan salt is the go-to flavor booster for
health-conscious people all over the globe. This vibrantly pink salt, with iron
ore and ivory traced throughout, is mined from the Khewra Salt Mine in
Pakistan. It has a bolder flavor from the highly complex mineral content, and
is great for cooking and baking of all kinds. Himalayan salt also has a high
heat tolerance and is often used for spa treatments to release ions into the
air.
Kosher Salt
Initially used
in Jewish cooking to follow the food guidelines in the Torah, kosher salt is
used for extracting blood from meat, thus, koshering the food. It is now used
more and more in all different cuisines due to its versatility. Chefs
particularly love the salt since it’s easier to pick up and evenly distribute.
Large, coarse, and uneven white grains give this salt its favorable texture,
while the briny, crunchy, and slow melting characteristics make this flavor
profile so desired.
Curing Salt
Removing
toxins from meat before cooking roasts, steak, poultry, and sausages, this
curing salt makes serving meat safe for consumers. This large grained, coarse
salt is even sometimes dyed pink with food coloring in an effort to inhibit the
growth of bacteria, as well as help to further distinguish it from table salt.
Pretzel Salt
As you’ve
always remembered them, iconic golden brown pretzels are notorious for their
large, rectangular shaped specks of salt thoroughly dispersed on top. These
rectangles are created on purpose as the flat edges stick onto egg wash more
easily. This salt is also non-melting, which makes it perfect for finishing not
only pretzels, but other breads too.
Black Salt - Kala Namak
“Black salt”
in Nepalese, kala namak is a mixture of Himalayan salt, charcoal, bark, herbs,
and seeds that has been sealed in a ceramic jar and fired in a furnace for 24
hours. It is then cooled down and stored away to be aged before being sold.
Kala namak is a pungent salt with a beautiful, reddish-black color. This unique
salt has a faint sulfurous aroma similar to eggs, and is often used in heartier
dishes, as well as vegan dishes to mimic the taste of eggs.
Fine Salt
Fine salt is a
salt with extremely fine salt grains that are extracted from salt brines. This
practice creates a higher yield, cleaner product, and is generally more
inexpensive. By pumping water below the Earth's surface, salt deposits are
dissolved, which creates salt brines. From there, the salt brine is brought to
the Earth's surface and the water is evaporated from it to create the salt that
we find on our tables and in our cabinets. Fine salt is one of the most popular
types of cooking salt.
Table Salt
Considered the
perfect all-purpose salt, table salt is used as an ingredient or seasoning in
most cooking and baking recipes. Table salt will usually contain added iodine
as iodine deficiency has become common in many parts of the world. Anti-caking
agents are usually added into table salt to prevent clumping and keep the salt
flowing freely. Table salt has uniform crystal size, which is great for concise
and consistent cooking when measuring in volume.
Salt Powder
Also known as
flour salt, salt powder is an even finer grain than table salt. Blending easily
into recipes and ensuring a uniform taste, salt powder is ideal for coating
snack mixes and sprinkling on salads, as well as using on a larger scale in
sauces, soups, and batters.
Popcorn Salt
Popcorn salt
is excellent for giving extra flavor to popcorn, fries, nachos, corn on the
cob, and other savory snacks and dishes. It is a super fine salt that easily
adheres to freshly cooked items, and is especially beneficial for getting in
the nooks and crannies of popcorn. Coming in different flavorings from butter,
sour cream and onion, garlic, and jalapeno to name a few, this is an easy way
to dress up your snacks and differentiate them to offer more flavoring options!
Cleaning Salt
Cleaning salt
is sodium chloride mixed with other chemicals and minerals to boost its
antibacterial properties and breakdown calcium and magnesium. It can be used in
a variety of ways to clean everything from kitchens to bathrooms and can
prolong the life of appliances.
Water Softener Salt
Available in a
crystal, cube, or pellet form, water softening salt works with your water
softener to remove the calcium and magnesium from your water that result in
hard water. Eliminating hard water helps reduce unsightly spots on your
dinnerware, glassware, and flatware, as well as cleaning your towels, sheets,
and clothes more efficiently for shorter results.
Grey Atlantic salt
The
distincitve coloured salt comes from the minerals absorbed from a particular
type of clay usually found in the Brittany region of France. Its subtle, salty
aftertaste that makes it popular with chefs and ideal for fish and meat dishes,
or simply sprinkled over nuts or popcorn.
Hawaiian pink salt
With its
particular shade coming from clay, this salt is ideal for roasted
meats or grilled fish with its mellow and earthy notes. It’s perfect for
being ground or crushed along with aromatic herbs.
Black hawaiian hiwa kai sea salt
Containing vegetable
carbon, this salt has an effective depurative action in the digestive system.
It’s perfect with fish and used often in haute cuisine for its decorative
effect. There’s also a green Hawaiian salt, mixed with bamboo leaves, suitable
for giving dishes a spicy aroma.
Smoked yakima sea salt
An integral
sea salt from the Yakima region, in the state of Washington, famous for its
apple orchards, whose wood is used to smoke the salt. Perfect for all kinds
of grilling, especially pork and white meat. There are many kinds of
smoked salt, with different aromas.
Maldon salt
The English
salt that forms in flakes, much beloved by chefs – perfect for giving a dish a
special touch: being a crystal, it slowly melts in your mouth and using it in
cooking ensures contrasting effects. It works very well with soft consistencies
and is particularly wonderful on chocolate.
Balinese salt
A flaked salt
with an unusual pyramid shape that makes it totally unique in the world of
salt. It comes from the Indian Ocean around the Indonesian island of Bali and
is perfect for giving food both a savoury flavour as well as a nice touch of
crunch.
Chili Lime Salt
This
fiery blend of red pepper flakes and tangy lime is amazing
Ingredients
¼ cup
unrefined salt
1 teaspoon
crushed red pepper flakes
1½ teaspoons
fresh organic lime zest
Equipment
Microplane
zester or cheese grater
Instructions
Using the
microplane zester or cheese grater, remove the outer zest from the
lime. Make sure not to peel off the bitter white pith, just the outside
will do. Lay zest on a towel and allow to air dry for a few hours, then combine
with salt and crushed red pepper flakes. Pour salt into a pretty jar and use
liberally.
Vanilla Salt
¼ cup
salt (For coarse salt
1-2 vanilla
beans and use the leftovers for
Sharp knife
Coffee grinder
Instructions
Using a sharp
knife, cut a slit down the entire length of the vanilla bean. Then, with the
tip of your knife, scrape out the seeds in the center, which should have a
paste-like consistency. Place a small amount of salt in the coffee grinder with
the vanilla beans and pulse until completely combined. Add the vanilla/salt
mixture to the rest of the salt and thoroughly mix with a spoon.
Sriracha Salt
¼ cup
salt (For coarse salt
1 tablespoon
sriracha
Instructions
Preheat your
oven to 350F. Mix sriracha and salt together and spread over a baking sheet.
Turn off the oven and then place salt inside and let it sit for 3-4 hours, or
until fully dried out.
Rosemary & Lemon Salt
¼ cup
salt (For coarse salt
1½ teaspoons
freshly grated lemon zest
1½ teaspoons
dried organic rosemary
Instructions
Using the
microplane zester or cheese grater, remove the outer zest from the
lemon. Make sure not to peel off the bitter white pith, just the outside
will do. Lay zest on a towel and allow to air dry for a few hours, then
combine with remaining ingredients and transfer to a jar for
storage/use.
How to Infuse Salt
Infused salts
are as easy as infused sugars, and even more versatile. They can be used
not just for savory recipes, but for sweets as well! And like an infused sugar,
the flavor combinations are only limited by your imagination.
Like infused
sugar, it can take up to a week to fully infuse your salt, but it keeps well
for up to 3 months.
The
instructions are pretty much similar, too. To make these punchy infused salt,
just start with kosher salt and a clean, completely dry airtight jar. I would
err on the smaller side for salts. Then you just add the herb (I prefer fresh)
or spice (I use dry ground spices) to the salt—the drier it is, the less the
salt will clump.
Where infused
sugar and infused salt differ is in the ratios. The best ratio for infused salt
seems to be about 1 teaspoon spice or dried herbs to 1/4 cup kosher salt.
With something fresh like citrus zest or fresh herbs, you can be more generous.
Here are some
of my favorite varieties of infused salt and how I would use them:
Chipotle and lime zest
This makes an
amazing rub for pork, beef or chicken before grilling, and would also be great
on the rim of a bloody mary.
Cayenne
Great for
sprinkling on dark chocolate cookies or chocolate truffles. It’s also wonderful
on fresh fruit, like mango, watermelon, or fresh jicama with lime juice.
Lemon, lime
and orange
Margaritas!
Also lovely sprinkled on on fish and cooked vegetables, or even in a shortbread
recipe.
Curry
This is
amazing for seasoning rice and soups.
Rosemary and
lemon
A great
seasoning for lamb or fish, this would also make a beautiful shortbread or
sugar cookie addition.
Espresso
Sprinkle this
on dark chocolate or chocolate chip cookies. Or maybe even over a chocolate
brownie?
Sage
Sprinkle on
butter for spreading over hot rolls, or use it to season pork chops.
Fennel
Amazing on
fish or shrimp or to season a salad.
Porcini
Made from
minced dried porcini (best done in the food processor), this is incredible
sprinkled over scrambled eggs or used to season potatoes.
Garlic
Made with
dehydrated garlic, use this to season avocado toast, soups, potatoes, rice, or
sprinkle it over cooked vegetables.
Red wine
This is
slightly more complicated because it calls for reducing a bottle of wine, but
it’s so worth it for the gorgeous color! To reduce the wine, bring 2 cups
red wine to a boil and then simmer over medium heat until the wine has
almost completely cooked off, about 15 minutes. You will have about 1
tablespoon wine syrup left. Let it cool, then add it to 1 1/2 cups
kosher salt. Mix well and then spread it on a parchment-lined sheet pan in a
shallow layer. I leave it in a warm oven, with just the pilot light on, until
dried out, which can take a few days. It’s great sprinkled on grilled red meat,
roasted lamb, or on anything chocolate!
Hibiscus Salt 0r Roselle Salt
Ingredients:
1 cup dried
hibiscus flowers
½ cup Vanilla Salt
Directions:
Grind the
dried flowers in a clean spice grinder or blender.
Strain through
a mesh colander into a bowl. Add the sea salt and mix thoroughly.
Store in a
sterilized glass jar in a dark place, such as a cupboard or pantry shelf out of
the light.
The recipes
below use about 60g salt; you can easily double the quantities if you want to
fill larger jars. I use Maldon salt: you want fairly coarse salt that can be
crushed lightly with a pestle and mortar, not table salt which is too finely
ground.
Vanilla salt
This beautiful
slate-grey salt is great for adding to all sorts of baking or ice cream, or, if
you’’re feeling adventurous, try a little in mashed potato or with carrots.
Simply crush the seeds of one vanilla pod with the salt.
Porcini and thyme salt
Grind 5g dried
porcini mushrooms in a spice grinder. Mix with 1.5 tsp dried thyme in a pestle
and mortar, then crush together with the salt. Excellent stirred into creamy
mushroom pasta, mushroom risotto, or over beef dishes.
Five spice, ginger and pink peppercorn salt
Lightly crush
1 tsp pink peppercorns with 1 tsp each ground ginger and Chinese five spice.
Crush with the salt. Use to season Chinese dishes and roast duck or goose, or
scatter over stir-fries.
Lime and paprika salt
Crush the salt
with the zest of 1 lime and 1 tsp smoked paprika. Try with Mexican cooking:
it’’s fabulous on fajitas or fish tacos. You could also add some chilli flakes
or ground chipotle chilli to make it hotter. I’ve even had this on toast with
crushed avocado – simply amazing!
Lemon, rosemary and lavender salt
Crush the
finely chopped leaves of one sprig of fresh rosemary with the zest of a lemon
and a pinch of lavender flowers. Crush with the salt. This is very good used to
season fish or roast chicken or vegetables; the lavender might sound strange
but it adds a beautiful aromatic note to all sorts of roasts.
The Science of Salt
Salt, or
sodium chloride, changes its composition when it comes into contact with water.
It breaks down into two parts—positive ion and negative ion—allowing it to
deeply penetrate the food and simultaneously draw water out of the food (which
is why salt is a component of brining). This two-pronged process enhances the
food's flavor while preventing spoilage. The salt penetrates the food more
slowly when cold but still moves at somewhat of a slow pace when heat is added,
creating a more even flavor, which is why it is best to add salt toward
the earlier stages of cooking versus just at the end.
The sodium
portion of salt masks any bitterness by decreasing the sourness of acid and
increasing the sweetness of sugar. By quashing the unpleasant flavors, the
favorable tastes are able to come to the forefront, making the food taste
good.
When to Salt
Most recipes
will call for adding salt along with other seasonings, such as black
pepper, at certain points during the cooking process. The instructions may be
to include with certain ingredients and then later to "season to
taste," or "check seasoning and add salt if needed." It is
important to follow this guidance as salt will affect food differently at
different stages of cooking. Since salt takes a while to penetrate the food,
pulling out its natural flavors, it needs time to do so, hence why adding salt
toward the beginning of the cooking process is ideal. Simply adding at the end
doesn't provide enough time for the salt to do anything but just add a salty
taste.
For example,
when you salt raw vegetables before they go in the oven to roast, the salt has
time to penetrate the food while it cooks, masking its bitterness and bringing
out the natural sweetness. Then a sprinkling of salt at the end adds that bit
of saltiness that we all crave, complementing the sweet and nutty flavors of
the vegetables.
Salting Vegetables and Meat
The technique
for salting vegetables and meats may differ depending on the recipe you are
making. Some may direct you to salt vegetables before adding to other
ingredients to remove the liquid from them, as in a coleslaw or cucumber
salad. Meat can be a little more complicated as there is a window of time when
it is not recommended to salt. Salting meats first brings the juices to the
surface, so if you cooked the steak, for example, while there is this salted
juice on the outside, the meat would steam, not form a nice outer crust, and be
dry inside. However, if you wait several hours, this salting liquid will be
reabsorbed, adding flavor and tenderness to the meat. So, you either need to
salt meat way ahead of time or salt right before cooking.
How Much Salt
If a recipe
simply states, "salt to taste," you may be wondering what a good
amount to begin with is. Use this general guide to help you measure correctly
and bring out the food's natural flavors to their fullest.
Tips for Cooking With Salt
Salt serves
several functions in food (six, to be exact)—as a preservative, to
add texture, enhance flavor, as a source of nutrient, as a binder, and color
enhancer. This is why nearly every recipe includes salt on its ingredient
list.
When cooking,
we mainly include salt to enhance the flavor of the food. Salt brightens
the foods' flavors and facilitates a balance between sweetness and acidity. But
since it is somewhat easy to oversalt and therefore ruin a dish, home cooks
tend to under-season, which results in a bland meal. In turn, those who are
eating often use a heavy hand with the salt shaker, which doesn't improve the
dish and only makes the dish taste salty.
When watching
professional chefs cook, you will notice they salt (referred to as
"season") the food at several stages and not just at the end before
serving. This is because the chemical makeup of salt enhances the flavor of
food as it cooks, brightening the dish. And sprinkling with a finishing salt at
the end will add texture as well as another layer of taste.
Canning and Pickling Salt
As the key ingredient in the pickling and canning process, the type of salt you choose really does matter. This finer grain salt features a small grain that keeps the quality of the produce in its best condition. This salt does not contain additives, minerals, or iodine, and is a much more concentrated salt that will not discolor your produce!
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