salt — the emperor of seasonings

salt crystal under a microscope

"Dust of the sea, in you the tongue receives a kiss from ocean night: taste imparts to every seasoned dish your ocean essence; the smallest, miniature wave from the saltcellar reveals to us more than domestic whiteness; in it, we taste infinitude." — Pablo Neruda

• sodium chloride
• an essential element in our body
• a widely used and highly effective food preservative
• a white granular food seasoning

mounds of mined salt

All salt originates in the ocean, which has covered different parts of the earth over time.  Because some ancient seas have dried up and become covered with sediment, there are now salt deposits beneath the earth's surface.  Salt beds and underground deposits provide pure salt unpolluted by modern mankind.  Crystaline salt deposits are found on every continent from oceans that contained an estimated four-and-a-half million cubic miles of salt.

While there are a number of websites and books about the history of salt, our interest is in salt as a food flavoring.  Salt accents, enhances and deepens the flavor of our food.  In cooking, salt acts as more than seasoning: it pulls flavors together and accents them.  It also acts as a meat tenderizer and can be made into a dough that is wrapped around meat or fish creating a flavor-sealing crust as it bakes.

There is great debate about the best salt to use when cooking.  At a basic level, salt is salt.  Federal standards require that all salt sold for food use be at least 97.5 percent sodium chloride.  Both the shape of the salt crystals and the presence of other minerals can have subtle affects on the taste.  Below are the most common types of salt available for cooking:

large salt crystal

• table salt — this is the most basic granulated salt and is usually mined from underground salt deposits.

• iodized salt — table salt with iodine added.  Iodine was added to salt when hypothyroidism was a major problem in the US.  Now the condition is practically nonexistent.

• kosher salt — a course, flat, flake salt used in kosher cooking.  Kosher salt is a mineral salt that is mined much like table salt but is left in a larger grain form.  It is certified kosher when it is produced in accordance with Jewish law.  Many chefs prefer kosher salt in the kitchen because it is flaked instead of granular making easier to use and faster to dissolve.  There are claims that kosher salt tastes saltier however this is usually because people use a bit more of it since it dissolves more quickly.

• popcorn salt — a superfine salt especially suited for adhering to popcorn and other snack type foods.  Also works well with corn on the cob and french fries.

• rock salt — much larger salt crystals most commonly used when making ice cream at home.  Some rock salt sold for sidewalks and driveways is not edible.

• pickling salt — square salt crystals most suitable for pickling and canning.

• processed sea salt — salts made from ocean water.  Typically it is cleaned and reformed producing uniform, pure white crystals

• unprocessed sea salt — salts formed on the top layer of salt ponds and harvested by barely skimming the surface.  Contains trace minerals that affect the color and

  Guerande salt flats

  texture of the salt.  Although many claim special health benefits from unprocessed sea salts, trace elements typically make up less than 1% of sea salts.  The small quantities used for food flavoring have no measurable impact on nutritional intake.  Differences in flavor are subtle yet delicious.  To get the most out of sea salts, add them after cooking and do not use on already highly seasoned foods.

• flavored salts — typically table salt blended with other dried spices.  faerie's finest uses pure flavor concentrates to infuse each salt grain with flavor.

faerie's finest is happy to offer a variety of salt products.  All of our salts are iodine free for the clearest salt flavor.

gourmet salts from faerie's finest

• flavored salts — our original line of flavored salts are made from pure, iodine-free table salt that has been infused with delicious natural flavors.

• flavored salt blends — unique combinations of our flavored salts especially made for easy grilling and broiling

• gourmet sea salts — a selection of mineral-rich salts harvested from the sea, each offering a unique texture and flavor

• herbed sea salts — special mixtures of our sea salts and premium herbs

There is a lot of hype about salt from both directions.  There are websites that tell you how horrible it is for you.  There are websites that tell you that some salts are the miracle food.  For some basic facts, we recommend the following webpages:

• an article about dietary salt from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration

• An overview of salt and sodium in food from Oklahoma State University (PDF format)