"flavored salt" news and stories

When you're whipping up a quick meal, flavored salt goes a long way with minimal effort.

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.

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.

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