Lot's Wife

You know what salt is. At least you think you do. I'm not talking about that salt shaker on your table, rather that quixotic mineral responsible for the rise and fall of primitive cultures. You know, "worth your weight in salt." It's that important. Regular table salt, or iodized sodium chloride, is akin to white paint. Yes, it does the job, but have you tried painting a room with eggshell or linen? Subtle variations in those colors are much more pleasing that standard white, as are the enormous variations in salt.

A quick salt primer:

• Table salt is fine for enhancing the flavor of food at the table, and it contains iodine which is necessary for your health.
• Kosher salt, the most widely used salt in restaurant cooking, has a large flake and is by volume much less saline that table salt. The shape of the flake makes it easy for chefs to grab a pinch while cooking, and the lack of iodine makes it a chef's first choice. Avoid using in baked goods, as the flakes may not dissolve.
• Sea salt, as its name suggests, is produced by evaporating sea water (table salt is usually made from mined rock salt, or halite). There are many variations of sea salt, each with a distinct flavor that most people associate with the word "gourmet."
• Fleur de Sel, or "flower of salt," is produced by scraping the top layer of salt while producing sea salt. The best Fleur de Sel comes from Brittany, and is very expensive. The flavor here is divine, and worth every penny.
• Himalayan Pink Salt, usually from Pakistan, is most often used in curing meats. Some high end restaurants are using blocks of ancient mined pink salt (some say many millions of years old) as a serving vessel for charcuterie. I've never had a need for this salt at home, but it looks cool!
• Smoked Salt has a deep, smoky flavor, as evidenced by its name. This salt adds wonderful flavor to salads.
• Grey Salt is a moist unrefined salt from France. The sea salt is sometimes called Celtic Sea Salt. With a wonderful, mineral flavor, this is the salt revered by chefs for finishing dishes.
• Rock Salt has its home in three main areas - removing ice from your driveway, aiding in the freezing process for ice cream, and as a base for serving shellfish.

Now that you understand the different types of salts, let's explore their uses in a bit more depth. When cooking, I keep a ramekin of kosher salt by the stove. This is my cooking salt for everything on top of the stove; as mentioned earlier, I never bake with it. You can also use kosher salt to crust a steak - plain old rib eye steaks generously coated with kosher salt and cracked black pepper cooked over a hot grill are wonderful. Kosher salt is used to rim the glasses of classic margaritas, and as an accompaniment to shots of tequila.

Table salt only comes into play when guests think I have under seasoned my food. They are welcome to their opinion, as wrong as it might be. I love to use sea salt in my cooking, but there is a problem. Its cost is fairly high when compared to kosher salt, and its flavor tends to "cook out" if used too early in the process. Most chefs will use sea salt as a finishing salt unless they have the financial means to be wasteful.

Fleur de Sel is my favorite salt of all time. The flavor is incredible, and my guests are amazed at the flavor of food cooked with it. Again, as the cost is high, use this salt to finish dishes - sprinkle a little bit on the food just prior to service. I find that grey salt, generic sea salt, and Fleur de Sel are excellent finishing salts, and I will use which ever one I happen to have at the time.

When I serve oysters or stuffed clams, I prepare the serving platter with a generous layer of rock salt. This bed of rock salt allows you to balance the shells on the plate and provides a nice presentation.

Which salt should you use? I recommend starting with a box of kosher salt and some generic sea salt. Once you switch from table salt to kosher salt, you will begin to get a handle on layering flavors - the most important element of good cooking. Gradually introduce sea salt at the end of the cooking process until you understand how it works as a flavoring agent, and then branch out into other more expensive salts.

Over time you will come to understand the wonderful world of salt and all the depth of flavor it can bring to your table. Just don't look back - we all know what happened to Lot's wife.