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A pound of salt used to be worth its weight in gold. Needless to say, once it was refined, concentrated and pumped with iodine, it became so worthless that today; you can get it for free. Sometimes you get what you pay for, and while it may seem like a minor culinary element, it pays to buy the right gourmet salt.
Your ideal kitchen should have a large box of Morton’s non-iodized kosher salt and several boxes of sea salts. Kosher salt has a large grain; it’s easy to pinch and cheap enough to use by the spoonful. You can use it to season pasta water or to scrub out a cast-iron skillet. Most importantly, kosher salt contains no iodine. It avoids the acidic pucker of table salt, making your food taste better in the process.
Sea salt is perfect when you’re cooking with only a few ingredients for a singular bold flavor. Scrambled eggs, seared steak and grilled fish are the kinds of simple dishes where using high-quality salt really makes a difference. Far removed from the granular contents of your table shaker, sea salt lends an herbal freshness that makes food more exciting to eat.
Hawaii, Utah, Maine, England and France produce specialty salts which can cost anywhere from six to forty dollars a pound. These salts can come in every kind of flavor, texture and color, but one thing they all have in common is overpriced packaging. Part of the secret in tracking down high quality sea salt is looking for it in a plastic bag; fancy restaurants wouldn’t pay for an ornamental glass jar with pink ribbon, and neither should you.
I buy the renowned “Sel Gris” from Brittany, France, at $10 a pound. During the summer, this salt is hand-raked from seabeds and is well known among chefs for its mineral taste and mild saltiness. I use it for expensive cuts of meat on special occasions, but it is especially tasty on sliced tomatoes with a drizzle of olive oil. The salt mellows the acidity of the tomato and makes each slice look juicier as it acts to pulls out water. It’s a mouthwatering combination that proves salt is the most important item in any cook’s pantry.
Debonair’s Salt Selections:
1) Morton’s Kosher salt $1.79 for 48 oz. ($0.04 per ounce)
Morton’s brand has larger grains than other kosher varieties which makes it a cinch to pinch. Season a steak or soak up an oil spill in the garage.
2) Le Paludier Grey Sea Salt from Brittany, France. $8.00 for 17.6 oz ($0.45 per ounce)
The pinnacle of salt. The irregular sized grains are packed with a bold steely flavor that smells of the ocean and makes every French girl feel at home in your apartment. This is my salt of choice for any thick cut of red meat.
3) Hapa’s Gourmet Hawaiian Alaea Sea Salt. $9 for 24 oz. ($0.38 per ounce)
Are you man enough to buy pink salt? The Hawaiian clay gives this version a rosy glow and transforms grilled seafood with a slightly bitter counterpoint and pronounced mineral taste.
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