Salt, Part 1

What an interesting article, and it reminded me of my time living in Japan, way back in the 1980's. I could not read Japanese, and I had to go by best guessing for some of my food purchases, thus ending up with flour instead of salt. I went to another supermarket and still could not find any salt. I knew the word, and asked where it was. A kind clerk walked with me out of the store and down the street to an utterly nondescript store which did, in fact, sell the government-controlled salt. Talk about great customer service!

That's super interesting! I always liked the subtle difference of the pink Himilayan salt I've been buying for years as opposed to the table-salt but always wondered what made that change! Interesting read!

Thank you so much for this enlightening article! Actually I have been thinking about different types of salt lately - not knowing if I should simply buy regular salt, regular salt plus iodine and folic acid, or those fancy salt things (like fleur de sel or something called pyramid salt).
This has cleared it up for me, and made me realize that I don't need to buy (regular) sea salt (I'm in Germany). So thank you very much! I might try out one of these fancy salts (is there even a plural?), but now I'm in no hurry :-)

I've read that regular iodine salt is not good for health, rather we should consume iodine from seafood, seaweeds and sea salt. Rock salt is slightly more dehydrating than sea salt due to the moisture content of the salt. Processed salt usually contain anti-caking agents which are not good for health, so I personally avoid them.

That is true, but don't forget that table salt also has anti caking additives. Some are natural and wont hurt you (unless you have an underlying health condition of the liver or kidneys) and some are chemical and definitely not that great for you (think of Sodium aluminosilicate). We check all our salt labels to make sure they are additive free. Not only that, but table salt is highly processed to strip the mineral content from it (usually with chemicals). We make sure to get salt that is processed as little as possible - which is hard sometimes T.T Good thing though, we use less salt now because of this so it's a win-win in our home. Oh, some breads (like at subway) contain known carcinogens - we now make our own T.T Well, I make it. We eat less bread now too, lol.

Thank you for clarifying the distinctions and uses of salt. This was gratefully informative.

Alas, once I zoomed past fifty (and had teenagers at the time), my blood pressure started creeping up. I had always had rather low blood pressure, but both of my parents were on BP medication in their later years.

Consequently, I now have lowered my salt intake dramatically. This has two effects: 1) I MISS SALT! 2) when I add a very little salt, I REALLY notice it. When I watch cooking shows, I notice the chefs tossing in "A little salt," which is actually a fist-full of kosher salt, and I go a little cross-eyed and recall that I used to do the same thing.

I DO NOT like salt substitutes. Do you have any advice on which sort of salt might be most satisfying while not requiring a huge amount to be added for flavor?

Thanks for this interesting article.

I like to use quite a bit of salt, but with some salts you don't actually need that much!

Very true! In fact some highly-colored salts on the market were later found to be rather potent in substances we don't really want to ingest.

Does Morton's still contain additives to facilitate 'pouring?'

Here we use either coarse or fine-ground sea salt of a light grey color. We like the taste and trace mineral content. Maldon also makes an appearance in shiozake and similar preparations, because of its own qualities of shape and taste.

Hope you are feeling better with the coming of Spring dear Maki!

A few months ago I came across a store that sold over 100 regional salts. (The owner is a food writer that wrote a book on salts, incidentally.) I tried a few (probably more than I should have, my tongue got pretty dried out) and can confirm that they do have subtly different flavors. But some of them also have subtle amounts of stuff like uranium, so maybe not something that should be in the everyday diet, anyway. (Take note, fans of pink Himalayan sea salt!)

I ended up buying a Japanese deep sea salt and it was pretty delicious sprinkled on food right before eating. But I definitely wouldn't use it on something where it'd get dissolved and mixed in.

I'm not a salt gourmet, but like most people, I have containers of various salts. The blue salt is beautiful. I wonder how it is prepared. I will have to grab some next time I'm in our local Asian town.

Just remember to not use iodized salt if you are preparing vegetables for fermenting.

a few thoughts on the article and comments:

i don't think high salt is as much of an issue--recently the NIH in the US revised their stance on it and studies showing that minimizing salt intake can actually hurt people.

i love that Wagashigrrl pointed out not to use iodized salt for pickling! this is very important.

i personally use cheap bulk sea salt for pickling and every day use (usually a 4 kg or 10 lb bag, i keep most of it in a tightly sealed container as it's hydroscopic and only take out a bit at a time). this is because i think it tastes good, it's cheap, and i'm lazy about other salts (and now iodized and kosher salts don't do it for me--i guess i like the impurities and i really do notice a difference).

maldon smoked sea salt is a wonderful pantry item, especially for those without outdoor bbq/smoker/grill space.

i recently got some himalayan salt, out of years of curiosity when i saw it at a local desi grocer--it was much cheaper than in American hippy-marketed grocers. i have not noticed a big difference in flavor, i don't think i will use it except for it's texture. it's rather fine and because my daily sea salt isn't, it will be nice on stuff like popcorn, griddle-pan meats/veg, and garnishing in general.

i also think the relative marketing of salt is both amusing and a good warning to consumers. i do see mined salt as having a greater environmental impact, so i theoretically favor sea salt (where it's already part of the water cycle)---of course i am also concerned about pollution (not sure how seriously i take either of these points). salt does have such an interesting history--as an item of trade, as an item to be regulated and taxed, etc.

Thanks for the great article. Salt is salt no matter whether it comes from the sea or the mine. I've been telling my students for years that so-called gourmet salts are just a marketing scheme. Suggestions that certain salts contain trace minerals necessary for good health is misinformation (does anyone realize just how much salt you would have to consume to get any benefit from the trace minerals in salt???) You are correct in mentioning that it is the size and shape that make the difference in how we perceive the taste. We also need to be aware of the "hidden" salt in foods that are highly processed.
On the subject of BP I've found that MSG (oh crap! Now I've opened a can of worms!) is a good adjunct to minimize salt consumption. Problem is that most people think you need to use a lot to make the flavors stand out. All you need is 1/8 tsp. (a pinch) . Adding more than that will not have any benefit. (And before anyone writes to claim that using MSG is bad for you, if you eat any processed food you claim is null as most, if not all ,highly processed foods contain MSG and it does not have to be listed in the ingredient panel if the processor purchased an ingredient from an outside source to make their product.)

Thanks for the very interesting post!

I have to admit that in the past,
I bought into the gourmet salt ideas.

I had Hawaiian Sea Salt, Himalayan Salt, salt from France and Australia, and several seasoned salts.

I imagined that they all tasted different in dishes that I cooked. But later, in a moment of truth, I realized that I really couldn't tell a difference between any of them, except for the smoky-flavored salt.

I just love the idea of making a culinary difference with unique kinds of salt, but sadly, I don't think it is so.

Thanks,
Lynn

I currently live in Korea and often see "roasted salt" in bags at the grocery store. It looks like regular ol' salt to me. Is there a similar Japanese product?

Unfortunately, they only sell the salt with added iodine/fluoride in Switzerland for a cheap price (this is kind of an old picture though).
In Switzerland, only one company has the exclusive right for producing salt, thus it cost about everywhere the same price http://www.jurasel.ch/
(check "Produkteübersicht", this contains the variety of products they are selling, Jod = iodine, Fluor = fluoride, Speisesalz/Tafelsalz = salt for food)
This monopole is called salt right (droit de régale). All salt imports are heavily taxed, even the bath salts...

I pay 0.95 CHF for 1 kg for Jura-Sel conta(m)in(ated) with iodine, sometime including fluoride.
The 1/2kg box without aditions costs 0.70 CHF online (I haven't seen it in stores though, not even the big ones!).
For 1 kg regular sea salt I have to pay 2.70 CHF.

But all the salt in bought food contains iodine, like in baked stuff, convenient food etc. This is probably the same in other countries too.
Fortunately, our tap water doesn't contain fluoride as the one in Basel.
I'm not really fond of all this additions to the food I eat!

Thank you for this great post, Maki. I was wondering if there was any real benefit to the upscale salts like Himalayan pink salt. I'm looking forward to Part 2.