salt of the earth
It is said that salt is the only edible “rock” on earth. And it has very clearly been on the minds of the world’s top chefs over the past decade or so. Restaurant menus have increasingly included high praise for some or other salt – coarse sea salt, lava salt, Himalayan salt, smoked salt, flavoured salt… – that apparently lends a special new dimension to each dish. But what are you to do when you are facing the shop shelf wondering whether you should go ahead and try something other than your usual, inexpensive purchase?
At its most basic, salt is a spice – many people refer to it as “the most popular spice in the world”. And it’s easy to understand why, especially when you’ve tasted the difference it can make to a plate of bland food, dramatically enhancing the flavours.
What is salt?
Salt is a crystalline mineral, 98% of which is composed of sodium chloride (NaCl). Sodium chloride, in turn, is composed of 40% sodium and 60% chloride, both of which are, interestingly, poisonous to humans in their pure form.
Salt has been used in kitchens for centuries to season food, as well as to
