Selecting your salt collection
There are many kinds of salt. I grew up with simple table salt, having no idea that there were different kinds. All with different flavors and different uses. You can find hundreds, maybe even thousands of them.
Here are some of the salts available in the market:
- Iodized/Table salt
- Sea salt
- Flake salt
- Kosher salt
- Rock salt
- Himalaya salt
- Fleur de sel
- Black salt
- Smoked salt
- Flavored salt (for example sellery salt, truffle salt, lemon salt)
- Artificial salt
And these come in different forms: you have salt powder, normal salt, coarse salt, flakes, rocks and even salt blocks for grilling and BBQ. All these forms have their uses and give a lot of different possibilities.
What is salt?
Salt is natrium chloride, also called sodium chloride (NaCl). A real alternative with the same taste is not there. So if you are on a low sodium diet, use little or nothing. Salt has a lot of qualities that are of value to us in food preparation:
- Acts as a flavor enhancer
- Use as a preservative
- Use as a texture enhancer
- Emulsifier
- Means to lower freezing temperature
It is cheap and available in different varieties in every supermarket.
What salt do I use in my cooking?
Well, that depends on what purpose. For me salt needs to give a pure taste. I would never used iodized salt as I really do not like the taste of it.
| # | Type of salt | Flavor | Use samples |
| 1 | Fine sea salt | Just salt | General purpose used IN the food while cooking |
| 2 | Coarse sea salt | Just salt | Fish in salt crust, pasta water, stews, soups |
| 3 | Maldon flake salt | Feels cleaner than normal sea salt | General purpose used as a finishing salt to sprinkle ON the food, for a bit of saltiness and extra dimension in the mouth. Salads, fish, grilled meat |
| 4 | Fleur de sel | Longer salt taste, deep, intense | Used as a finishing salt giving that little bit of crunch and extra taste. Sprinkle on new potatoes with butter. On chocolate truffles, cocktails and mocktails. Tequila. Salads, fish, grilled meat |
| 5 | Himalaya salt | Contains highest amount of minerals, less NaCl | Used as finishing salt same as Fleur de Sel and Maldon salt. |
I do have some other salts but rarely use them: smoked salt, truffle salt, celery salt for example. They have too much taste for me, thus masking the taste of the fresh and organic ingredients I use. When I prepare my food, my philosophy is always to try to bring out the best of the natural ingredients. So I want to taste the tomato, the salad leaf, the herbs, the steak, the fish. At the end of the day, mother nature creates some of the best flavors. Only when having bad quality ingredients, you need to adjust a lot for getting something of decent taste.
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