One of the best things about salt is that there are infinite ways of using salt – in cooking, grilling, BBQing, baking, curing and finishing to name but a few.
We think the best way to consume salt is to stop buying processed, pre-salted food and to cook from scratch (it doesn’t have to be elaborate) and then use good quality salt as it should be used – to add flavour.
Best of all (we think), is when you use salts for finishing … right at the end of cooking. There is nothing better than some truffle salt added to cooked mashed potato, smoked salts sprinkled over cooked salmon or wild porcini salt on a BBQ’d steak. In fact, once you start you probably won’t stop dreaming up the endless flavour combinations.
Mark Bitterman (a guru on salt … you can check out his book here) says that salt is a strategic ingredient and should be used as such. He says there are five rules of strategic salting, which we like to stick to.
- Eat all the salt you want, as long as you are the one doing all the salting - use your own senses to determine how much salt to find the right balance of flavour
- Skew the use of salt toward the end of food preparation - this is not to say don’t cook with it, just reserve most of it for the end so that it is incorporated into the food less homogenously and provides a more layered flavour
- Use only natural, unrefined salts - this one speaks for itself – don’t settle for sub-standard ingredients
- Make salting a deliberate act - create your own salt ceremony, but think of salting as an opportunity, not a routine
- Use the right salt at the right time and always try something new once in a while
A note on salt grinders
We love a good salt grinder. But we love a salt tray too and often a good old fashioned pinch, straight out of a beautiful salt tray is all you need.
Confused? Don’t be. It is pretty straightforward stuff, we promise. Salts that can be crunched, by that we mean coarse salts and rock salts, are the best salts to put in a grinder e.g. Pink Himalayan salt or Hawaiian Black Lava (coarse) or our African Pearl salt. When buying a salt grinder, make sure you get one that has a ceramic mechanism, not an aluminium one. Rusty grinders are no one’s favourite.
Flavoured salts and salts that have more moisture (most of our range) are best used straight from a salt tray or salt holder. They don’t work very well in a grinder as they are too moist. And plus, their true beauty is revealed when we get to see, smell and pinch them. And for those germ phobes out there … don’t worry bacteria has a hard time growing in salt.
Given the stunning salt holders on the market (check out our range) this is a beautiful way of sprucing up your dining table, or adding a touch of class to your next dinner party, and displaying your beautiful salt, of course.