Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Salt (merged topics)


lullyloo

Recommended Posts

and the mission for this weekend is to buy Malden salt and/or fleur de sel. :smile:

Haven't been able to find Malden Sea Salt locally in a long time. And the shipping costs more than the salt to have it mail ordered! :sad:

"Portion control" implies you are actually going to have portions! ~ Susan G
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Note: Shameless self-promotion below...

I've got a very nice Portuguese flor de sal available (about two-thirds of the pallet is still in my basement...I call it Lot's Wife), and it fits into a USPS priority mail pouch for low-cost shipping.

Go to my web site for details.

end of ssp....

Jim

olive oil + salt

Real Good Food

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Novelty salts are great as garnishes.

(I use fleur de sel for steaks, red Hawaiin for fish, Malton flakes for many things etc.)

But kosher salt is what one cooks with.

edit:

Um. I've nothing to sell. But Jim's good lad and I'm sure worth his salt.

Edited by Jinmyo (log)

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Note: Shameless self-promotion below...

I've got a very nice Portuguese flor de sal available

I've got nothing to sell myself, but I can confirm on Jim's behalf that Portuguese flor de sal from the Algarve is truly a superior product, equal in quality to the better known French fleur de sel de Guerande from Brittany. I spent some time in the Algarve researching the subject for an article and was impressed by the hand-care and the quality of the finished salt.

Personally, I love coarse sel de Guerande (not fleur de sel de Guerande) to sprinkle over fish or meats before grilling over charcoal. The salty, burnt on crunch, for me, is the taste of summer.

My favourite for table use is Maldon sea salt from the marshes of Essex. It's very friable and I just love the way you can take a pinch in your fingers and crumble it over foods; light and delicate, it never seems to oversalt the food itself.

Texture and crystal structure seem to me as important as pure taste.

MP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was given a 1 kilo gift of Fleur de Sel de Camargue.

It is one of the finest salts i've yet to taste.

It is however very expensive, about $50 a kilo.

Turnip Greens are Better than Nothing. Ask the people who have tried both.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haven't been able to find Malden Sea Salt locally in a long time. And the shipping costs more than the salt to have it mail ordered!  :sad:

Cynthia, they carry it at Wild Oats here (Santa Fe), and I know I've seen it somewhere else, too, but I'm forgetting where. Also, it's inexpensive.

My favorite salt!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've got a very nice Portuguese flor de sal available (about two-thirds of the pallet is still in my basement... I call it Lot's Wife), and it fits into a USPS priority mail pouch for low-cost shipping.

Go to my web site for details.

kind offer, Jim. thanks.

i'm just a little leery ordering white, powdery substances by mail given the current geo-political situation(s). :laugh:

"The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the ocean."

--Isak Dinesen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

and the mission for this weekend is to buy Malden salt and/or fleur de sel.  :smile:

Haven't been able to find Malden Sea Salt locally in a long time. And the shipping costs more than the salt to have it mail ordered! :sad:

I've been having trouble finding Maldon's at Wild Oats and Whole Foods in Denver. I solve the shipping cost thing (somewhat) by ordering 6 boxes at a time, which actually don't last all that long.

Maldon's I use for most everything--Table salt for pasta water and baking, and kosher salt for pickling and brining type things.

Fred Bramhall

A professor is one who talk's in someone else's sleep

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've lurked around here long enough to see how a discussion can turn into a cause celebre, but.....

I found this article while I was doing research for a piece I was writing on seasoning food. This author pretty well debunks the whole notion of "designer salt," and backs it up with quotes from a Chemistry professor (emeritus) at Penn.

And most notably--for me--is his assertion that FDA regulations require all salt to be at least 97.5% NaCl. If that's true, it doesn't leave much room for all those nifty minerals from Brittany.

Again, if this author is correct, I think the important issue with salt is the size of the crystals, not their source. OR...is fleur de sel imported without having to be subjected to scrutiny by the FDA?

I hope some of you follow this link and will have further comments. I'd certainly like more evidence yea or nay.

Best regards,

Skip Lombardi

http://www.skiplombardi.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Just going over our kitchen inventory and thinking of salt. We currently have in use the following: Maldon, Red Hawaiian, and an organic Brittany. Any other gems out there I should know about and how are you using them?

Stephen Bonner

Edited by SBonner (log)

"who needs a wine list when you can get pissed on dessert" Gordon Ramsey Kitchen Nightmares 2005

MY BLOG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Maldon and Fleur de Sel are my favorite specialty salts. I do reserve those for special uses thought. I generally use Morton Kosher for normal usages.

Tobin

It is all about respect; for the ingredient, for the process, for each other, for the profession.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another variety is Kala Namak (more info here) or black indian rock salt. I know one store that carries it here in NY but I haven't tried using it yet. It can be purchased either finely or roughly crushed (pebble size).

Edited to add: i personally use Morton kosher for cooking and either grey salt or fleur de sel as garnish

Edited by zeitoun (log)
"A chicken is just an egg's way of making another egg." Samuel Butler
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bear in mind Jeffrey Steingarten's finding, after a series of blind tastings, that, with a very few, very weird exceptions, all salt TASTES the same once dissolved. So specific uses will be dictated by look and texture. My favorite table or finishing salt, for what it's worth, is Malden - it has the most beautiful structure, plus it is very easily crushed between the fingers: a great pleasure to handle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Malden has been a personal favorite for years, sort of like an old boyfriend I never thought I would drop.

Recently, I purchased some of the Slow Food winning salt from Portugal via egulleteer Jim Dixon and found it incredible.. I'm not thinking this infatuation is

a 'fling.' it could last a long time.

“C’est dans les vieux pots, qu’on fait la bonne soupe!”, or ‘it is in old pots that good soup is made’.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ms. Wolfert,

Your check is in the mail.

I first read about Necton flor de sal (Portuguese for fluer de sel) in an article by Corby Kummer in the Atlantic Monthly (no longer available free online, but a slightly different version is on the Slow Food site). At about the same time I realized that most of what I ate at home was being drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with coarse salt. So tracked down Necton, sent an email, and a little more than a year later I had emptied my bank account and had a pallet of salt in my basement. Our food has tasted better ever since.

For more info, including how to order some for yourself, follow the link to Real Good Food in my signature below.

Jim

olive oil + salt

Real Good Food

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I returned recently from Zihuatanejo in Guerrero Mexico with 10 kilos of the local sea salt. The regional salt there is hand harvested and sundried and is by far the best salt I have ever had. It is slightly citrusy and has a gentle salt taste from start to finish. Some salts hit you hard and dissipate quickly. This salt is magic. It's available in coarse and fine at the local market.

S

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am very fond of The Salt Traders' Danish Viking-Smoked Salt. It has a lovely dark amber color and distinctive smoky flavor that goes especially well with pork dishes and some pasta dishes. It reminds me, actually, of some flavor notes found in certain sausages and hot dogs.

I'm glad to see some recommendations of other salt types. So far I've experimented with a Japanese Nazuna(?) sea salt and a Murray River Basin salt, and couldn't tell much difference from the regular Eden sea salt I usually keep around. I've been reluctant to blow money on further experiments, but with this thread's guidance I'll go exploring anew.

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fresh French bread with butter, topped with Maldon sea salt is one of my favorite snacks.

-------------------------

Water Boils Roughly

Cold Eggs Coagulating

Egg Salad On Rye

-------------------------

Gregg Robinson

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...

Bumping this up because I am in the search of very fine salt, almost powdered in texture. Many years ago, it used to be fairly common and was sold as "popcorn salt," sometimes with butter flavor or plain. As I was salting the most gorgeous huge onion rings at my favorite burger joint a couple of weeks ago, I was dismayed that the regular table salt just kind of bounced off. These onion rings were so well done that there wasn't enough grease on them to catch the salt. That is when I remembered the really fine salt that we used to use on fried foods, like shrimp, as they came out of the frier. You actually use a lot less to get the right level of seasoning. Popcorn salt used to be in the grocery stores. Nope. And I have been to the usual places like Penzey's and Chef's Catalog and no dice.

Any ideas?

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am going to try that, scott. Oddly enough, the Morton's site show's the plain popcorn salt. I was talking to my sister and she has been looking for it, too . . . with the same result. We are puzzled.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am going to try that, scott. Oddly enough, the Morton's site show's the plain popcorn salt. I was talking to my sister and she has been looking for it, too with the same result. We are puzzled.

I'll check my supermarket next time I'm there. Where in the grocery are you looking? It might be by popcorn, not with the rest of the salt in the spice section.

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...