I have a weakness for great gourmet oils, vinegars, and spices. This makes every trip to my favorite foodie store that specializes in these three things divine torture, and an exercise in failing restraint. I try a million different flavors, and I have even been known to finish off a small cup of vinegar like a shot. I go into a foodie haze and I can't be stopped.
Last week, I met up with a friend to go to that sinisterly tasty place and made a new discovery: Halen Mon Sea Salt with Taha Vanilla, which merges sea salt from Wales with Tahitian vanilla. (Details) It's delicious -- and I say this as someone who steers clear of flavored salts. The mixture offers the sharpness of the salt with the sweetness of super-tasty vanilla. I couldn't help but buy some.
The trend of mixing sweet and savory in candies is still going strong - and this is a good think for candy lovers. A pinch of salt really enhances the sweetness of sugar, chocolate, caramel or other sweet things by creating an obvious contrast. It also creates an instant mouthwatering effect - and who doesn't want food that's mouthwateringly good?
Getting back to candies, sea salt caramels - which are caramels spiked with a bit of salt - are the ultimately combination of salty and sweet. If you're a caramel purist, you'll want to skip the chocolate coated caramels and go straight for The Little Flower Candy Co's sea salt caramels, which are surprisingly salty and crazily addictive. Trader Joe's is also selling sea salt caramels in little wooden gift boxes this month and they are probably priced a little bit lower than LFC's candies. If you want to get some chocolate with your caramels, try Fran's Gray Salt Caramels. The award-winning chocolates have a sprinkle of salt on top and are one of the confections that kicked off the trend to begin with. For a lower priced, but equally chocolaty version, Crate and Barrel is selling a gift tin packed with them. It would also be a great thing to bring as a hostess gift for a holiday party, as it will probably be shared with everyone during dessert.
I have quite a collection of different salts in my spice cabinet due, in no small part, to the general popularity of flaked salts, sea salts and other, more exotic salts from all over the world. At first, I was just following the trend, but as I tried more salts I found that I bought them for their different textures, many of which still come through in a finished dish. I regularly use only a small portion of the salts: Maldon or a pink Australian salt for finishing dishes, kosher or sea salt for cooking and any more finely ground salt, including ordinary table salt, for baking.
The reason I don't use the rest of the salts is that they rarely differ significantly where flavor is concerned. If you're looking for flavor, I'd suggest opting for a salt that is has been purposely flavored. This set from NapaStyle has three different varieties: Sundried Tomato Garlic Gray Salt, Roasted Garlic Gray Salt and Citrus Rosemary Gray Salt. All will add a very impressive flavor-boost to a dish before serving, along with the look and texture of a coarser salt. The grey salt used as a base for the flavors is a sea salt from France that has a light purple-grey color and a slightly moistness to it, which many feel contributes to an increase of flavor during cooking.
Perhaps the best use for these salts, especially if you don't feel like cooking, is as a popcorn seasoning, turning a bag of plain microwave corn into a gourmet snack.
Generally speaking, salt by any other name is still salt, and whether you used large flake sea salt or plain table salt, your food will still turn out well. This is especially true of savory foods. In things like sauces and soups, all kinds of salt will dissolve due to the heat of the dish and produce equally flavorful results. When adding a spice rub to meat or simply adding a sprinkle to food already on your plate, the salt will not only add flavor, but a small amount of texture and a bit of crunch. You might find that while the saltiness is the same, you prefer to use larger, flaked salt for that extra edge. Salads, too, are usually enhanced by adding a bit of salt and using a coarser salt will really enhance the veggies in your bowl.
Do you know your Black Salt from your Celtic Salt? Me neither. I only have Maldon
sea salt in my kitchen - big flakes in a pot, some in the grinder and pounded into a fine powder by the pestle and
mortar - but as this page shows there are
plenty of different types with various uses.
As well as detailing various types, there are some interesting background snippets. For example did you know that
table salt, which is refined, is mostly iodized in America and has been since the 1920's. This was to prevent a goiter
(an enlargement of the thyroid gland caused by iodine deficiency). We require less than 225 micrograms of iodine a
day; sea salt contains the iodine naturally. It is only mined salt that requires the addition.
Campbell's Soups are cutting back on sodium. Again. Since 1964, the company has tried several times
to reduce the amount of sodium in its popular line of soups without achieving popular success; consumers complain about
the high sodium content, but do not buy reduced sodium soups. Campbell's says that they have discovered a new type of sea salt that has 40 percent less sodium than
regular salt, which will enable them to maintain the flavor of their soups while decreasing the total amount of sodium.
A half-cup serving of Chicken Noodle will drop from 890mg to 670mg of sodium, with the use of the new salt.
Not surprisingly, Campbell's is not revealing the name or their source for the new salt.
The FDA recommends a maximum of 2400 mg of sodium per day - roughly 1 teaspoon of salt. For years, many people have
been told to reduce the amount of salt in their diet, but new research shows that sodium intake may not contribute to an increased
risk of heart-related problems. Campbell's says that their soups taste-tested as good as or better than the original
versions, but whether they are good for you is between your taste buds and your doctor.
My friend Megan is the proprietor of Sugar Star, a
baking business in Portland, Oregon that supplies tasty treats like chocolate cake with Earl Gray-infused ganache and
rosewater red velvet cake to coffee shops like Fuel Cafe on Alberta
Street. One of the things she makes that I love are Salty Brownies, decadent chocolate brownies topped with
chunky sea salt.
I made a batch tonight. Just use your favorite brownie recipe
(or—gasp!—a box), and when the brownies have about four minutes left to cook, remove the
almost-baked brownies and sprinkle them lightly with rock salt. (I used a half teaspoon of pink,
Hawaiian alae salt.) Continue cooking for the remaining four minutes of baking time. Remove from oven and serve as
usual. The salt really makes the chocolate flavor pop. They are always a hit at parties. I'll never make brownies any
other way.
Even though the crust of your pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving turned out flaky and buttery, consider everyone "pie"-ed out. Try these non-pie ways to use up leftover disk of dough.
I have quite a collection of different salts in my spice cabinet due, in no small part, to the general popularity of flaked salts, sea salts and other, more exotic salts from all over the world. At first, I was just following the trend, but as I tried more salts I found that I bought them for their different textures, many of which still come through in a finished dish. I regularly use only a small portion of the salts: Maldon or a pink Australian salt for finishing dishes, kosher or sea salt for cooking and any more finely ground salt, including ordinary table salt, for baking.
Generally speaking, salt by any other name is still salt, and whether you used large flake sea salt or plain table salt, your food will still turn out well. This is especially true of savory foods. In things like sauces and soups, all kinds of salt will dissolve due to the heat of the dish and produce equally flavorful results. When adding a spice rub to meat or simply adding a sprinkle to food already on your plate, the salt will not only add flavor, but a small amount of texture and a bit of crunch. You might find that while the saltiness is the same, you prefer to use larger, flaked salt for that extra edge. Salads, too, are usually enhanced by adding a bit of salt and using a coarser salt will really enhance the veggies in your bowl.
Do you know your Black Salt from your Celtic Salt? Me neither. I only have Maldon
sea salt in my kitchen - big flakes in a pot, some in the grinder and pounded into a fine powder by the pestle and
mortar - but 
Campbell's Soups are cutting back on sodium. Again. Since 1964, the company has tried several times
to reduce the amount of sodium in its popular line of soups without achieving popular success; consumers complain about
the high sodium content, but do not buy reduced sodium soups. Campbell's says that they have discovered a 
My friend Megan is the proprietor of Sugar Star, a
baking business in Portland, Oregon that supplies tasty treats like chocolate cake with Earl Gray-infused ganache and
rosewater red velvet cake to coffee shops like 
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