"SeaSalt" news and stories

• Lamb shoulder has it all -- affordability, flavor and tons of tasty variations.
• We always hear about diners' complaints, but here's a report about the crazies (um, that'd be us civilians) the restaurant staff has to deal with.
• Gluten-free noodles from Italy's Rustichella d'Abruzzo are here. The verdict: The rice is not so nice, but the corn is totally sweet.
• The Cupcake Kit: An "all-encompassing" kit to make cupcakes a bit more festive.
• Berkeley's Sea Salt offers a revamped bar menu with nibbles including devilled duck eggs and ahi tuna mini-burgers.
• French Laundry gets a new chef de cuisine; Corey Lee heads out on his own and Timothy Hollingsworth takes over.
• Tom Colicchio (head judge of "Top Chef") and sous chef Sisha Ortuzar have cooked up a new book of "'Wichcraft."
• Did you know that there are a myriad of olive oils to suit different needs in the kitchen? A new book might help enlighten you.

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.

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.

[Image Andrew Barrow]

 

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