1.9 Salt
Description
This article is from the Cooking and Conversions FAQ, by with numerous contributions by Victor Sack cooking.faq@mac.com others.
1.9 Salt
There are basically two types of food salt: table salt and sea salt.
They are chemically identical, containing mainly sodium chloride. Table
salt is mined from deposits left by dried-up or receded sea. Sea salt
is extracted from evaporated sea water.
From these two types of salt several varieties are produced, differing
somewhat in composition, form, colour, taste, and intended use. Some of
them are listed below.
- Table salt. It is often mixed with iodine (and called iodized salt)
and often contains anti-caking agents.
- Kosher salt. Called so, because it is used for koshering purposes,
i.e., drawing blood from meat. It is a coarse salt which generally
contains no additives. Because of the large size of the crystals, about
twice as much kosher salt is required to achieve the same taste
intensity as would be needed using regular table salt. Many people
prefer it to the regular table salt.
- Pickling salt. It is a fine-grained salt used for pickling and
canning. Like kosher salt, it contains no additives, such as
anti-caking agents, which would cloud the brine.
- Sel gris. Grey sea salt. This kind of salt is unprocessed, retaining
various minerals. Produced near the town of Guérande in Brittany,
France. It is said to smell of the sea. Generally used for seasoning
already cooked dishes.
- Fleur de sel. A very expensive kind of sel gris, it is not grey but
creamy-white in colour. Harvested from the thin white film that forms
on the surface of the salt marshes in Brittany. Said to be prized by
some French chefs. Some other people consider it a marketing gimmick.
Also supposed to be used for seasoning already cooked dishes.
- Indian black salt (kala namak). Brown-to-black in colour, it has a
smoky, sulphuric flavour. Used in some Indian dishes.
- Hawaiian alaea salt. It takes its name and a reddish colour from the
red clay (alaea) found along the shores. It is also generally used for
seasoning already cooked dishes.
- Rock salt. Greyish in colour, it is an unrefined salt, containing
many minerals and impurities. Supposed to be inedible, it is used in
ice cream machines and for melting ice and snow on the roads.
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