Salt

FROM THE ULTIMATE BASIC TO A FASHION ITEM

Having dithered yesterday over the comparatively simple choice between rock salt and table salt for my olives I thought today I might look at how salt has evolved from a really basic commodity - so basic that for a time it was really money - to almost a fashion item.

Salt is prehistoric. I'm sure that it was being used well before so-called civilisation developed. And you have to wonder whether those early primitive societies found ways of 'producing' salt or whether they just licked it off the rocks or seashore. Who was the genius who discovered that it would preserve food, heal wounds and make food taste better?

"Salt's ability to preserve food was a founding contributor to the development of civilization. It helped to eliminate dependence on seasonal availability of food, and made it possible to transport food over large distances. However, salt was often difficult to obtain, so it was a highly valued trade item, and was considered a form of currency by certain peoples." Wikipedia

And I'm sure that you probably all know that. But I did learn a few stray facts when looking into the history. No. 1. They are still arguing over whether the word 'salary' comes from the fact that the Roman legionaries were paid in salt. Some say yes, some say no. The word does come from the word for salt though. No. 2 - the suffix 'wich' in English place names most often (occasionally not), means salt - these were places that produced salt - Nantwich, Norwich, Droitwich, Sandwich ... No. 3 - Salzburg literally means town of salt - it was a salt producing centre. I should have known that though because I did do German at school and I know that salz means salt and burg means town. I jus hadn't made the connection. After all Salzburg = Mozart these days, not salt.

I'm sure you also know that there are two main ways of getting salt - from the sea by evaporation, and by mining it from a deposit of salt underground - which was formed from ancient seas and lakes. We visited the Camargue in southern France a few years ago - sea salt is one of their main industries - and I took this picture of the mountains of salt they had obtained from the salt pans. And yes, it really was that pink colour.

The top sea salt though, seems to be the flour de sel (I have some - a gift from a friend), which is harvested from salt pans by hand, very carefully, in Brittany.

It's slightly greyish in colour though some say pink. And it's expensive.

The top rock salt on the other hand seems to be the Himalayan pink salt - now available in those salt grinders on your supermarket shelves. Or - at the other end of the market you can buy an artistic block complete with a grater and board. Beautiful is it not? But definitely a fashion statement rather than an everyday item. Well maybe if you are extravagant you might have one.

If you buy it in a grinder it will be crystals. Rock salt - crystals, sea salt - flakes.

When I was a child, we would buy salt in a block too. It didn't look as pretty as this though. More like these blocks coming out of the Cerebos factory in England, but slightly smaller and wrapped in some kind of greaseproof paper.

We children were assigned the task of grinding it. Thick slices would be cut off (it was softish) and placed between two sheets of greaseproof paper. We would then pound the salt with a rolling pin, then roll it, still between the paper, until it was fine enough to put into a jam jar for use in the kitchen. It was a favourite occupation of ours. I remember doing it at my grandmother's but I think we also did it at home. Because that's how we bought the salt. Then there were those little twists of blue paper containing salt in packets of crisps, which you unwrapped and sprinkled over the crisps. These days the crisps themselves come with many different salt flavours.

So why would you buy these 'posh' salts other than for their looks?

As Rachel Cooke, writing in the Guardian says: "Doesn’t salt mostly taste, well, salty, however noble its provenance?"

Well having read a number of articles on the topic I'm thinking that there might be a subtle taste difference, more pronounced in some than others.

For instance there is Pakistani/Indian Kala Namak which " has been packed in a jar with charcoal, herbs, seeds and bark, then fired in a furnace for a full 24 hours before it’s cooled, stored and aged." It apparently gives off a faint sulphurous smell of eggs and is much loved by vegans - doesn't sound tempting at all. Looks nice though.

Hawaiian black salt is a sea salt that is harvested from the Hawaiian volcanic islands and which is infused with charcoal to make it black. So it must taste a bit of charcoal.

Then there's smoked salt which I foolishly thought was one thing - but no there are dozens of different kinds of smoked salt - and I guess the kala namak must be one. It depends on the kind of wood you use - Chardonnay oak anyone?

The very first article I read today from Wide Open Eats explained 12 different kinds of salt. Though when I continued browsing I found there were rather more than 12. It's a good start though.

And then there are the flavoured salts that you can now buy. The idea here is to add things to your basic rock crystals or flakes. In fact I do have, in my pantry, a jar of chilli salt - salt mixed with some chilli and other things - peppercorns I think. I have it for those occasions when I feel a dish might need a dash of chilli and I haven't put it in the actual dish because my husband doesn't like chilli. It's got much more salt than chilli though and is therefore a little unsatisfactory - even for me who just cannot give up salt altogether.

For basically we have all now been indoctrinated with the mantra that salt is very, very bad for you haven't we? It:

"puts up our blood pressure leading to strokes, heart failure and heart disease and [is] also linked to osteoporosis, stomach cancer and kidney disease." Rebecca Smithers - The Guardian

And yet it's an essential mineral. Without it, I learnt at school, you would get cramps. And I think this is still true, although nowadays they have a tendency to prescribe magnesium rather than salt for cramps. Nevertheless I think we are recommended to have 1.something grams a day in our diet. And you should buy salt with added iodine for this is essential in preventing things like goitre. Sea salt (and sea air) naturally contain iodine.

I confess I do like the taste of salt:

"Salt also highlights and suppresses the different flavors we perceive in our food. In small amounts, salt curbs bitterness, but enhances sweet, sour and umami, giving sweet and sour dishes a more two-dimensional taste. At higher concentrations, it reduces sweetness and enhances umami, making it perfect for savory and meat dishes." Wide Open Eats

But I no longer cook with it unless there is a specific reason for using salt - to draw out juices for example, although I do grind a few bits of salt over my food at table. I have noticed that over time I do find some things saltier than I used to and occasionally in restaurants, where they do use salt, I find the food too salty. So I have obviously adjusted.

"Often these days guilt and anxiety wrestle with taste and pleasure in our minds as we hesitantly reach for the salt." Kerstin Rodgers - The Guardian

Which is true of any number of the things we eat today is it not?

And all those fashionable salts are mostly used to put over your food at table - to 'finish' the food rather than be part of its making. Because it's the texture too that is important - and the look. And also I do think that they do all taste a little different. Their makers would say it's because of the other naturally occurring minerals in them. Who knows. Maybe it's all in our imagination.

Beware though. It has been discovered that there are minute particles of plastic in sea salt. And nobody has studied the effect of this to date. I'm guessing that currently the amount is so microscopic that it would just pass through the system.

Back to those flavoured salts though. These are the things like my chilli salt. Or chicken salt (apparently an Oz thing - so I will come back to that some other time.) In France a couple of years ago I saw a market stand which exclusively sold flavoured salts:

There were masses and masses of them and the stall was doing a roaring trade. As are all the companies cashing in on artisanal salt. You will probably find one at your local farmers' market. Nigel Slater is a fan:

"Flavoured salts are good with grilled meats, too – and making them is easy. You chop the herb leaves (thyme, rosemary, fennel or lavender buds, perhaps) and mix them one-third to two with salt, let the mixture dry a little, then keep it in a stoppered jar.

The crucial detail is to let them dry for 24 hours first. The most successful way to do this is to scatter the pounded herbs and salt on a tray, in a shallow layer, and leave it in a warm but airy place. Bottle tightly, then keep it near the cooker, using it as the mood takes you." Nigel Slater

If you want some suggestions you could do worse than read his article.

So I am coming to the conclusion that like just about everything in life, ' a little bit of what you fancy does you good.' Another grandmother saying - well I know it's not hers but she was always quoting one proverb or another, and this was one of them.

"Might it mean we’re finally coming to understand that salt is the single most important and transformative ingredient of them all? That we would rather, these days, scatter it in considered manner than cosh all that lies in its path with a hefty pour from the cellar, as my grandparents used to do?" Rachel Cooke - The Guardian

And, as in the dim and very distant past, fortunes are again being made from salt. I tried to find when this all started to happen and who started it, but was not successful.

And I have a nasty feeling I've done all this before. Well maybe not with quite the same focus.