Luxury sea salts latest wave for food snobs

Monday, February 23, 2004 Enthusiasts say luxury sea salts add a refined note to foods MONTREAL -- First there was fine wine. Distinguishing Bordeaux from Burgundy became de rigueur. Then came gourmet bottled mineral water that made Perrier passe: Ty Nant, Fiji rainwater and Harrogate Spa Water. Now, even salt has become recherché. It used to be when you said "Pass the salt," what slid down the table was a shaker full of the same old Sifto salt drawn from a cardboard box that cost 89 cents Not anymore. Salt snobs now seek out specialty sea salts that come in a variety of tastes, colours and textures. There's Halen Mon, a smoky sea salt harvested in Wales and evapourated over 800-year-old oak chippings. Or crystals of coral-coloured red alea salt from Hawaii that shimmer like tiny jewels in their jar. Volcanic sea salt that's black, and Portuguese salt picked by hand and poetically named Flor de Sal. Maldon salt, the favourite of British celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, comes in fragile, mica-like flakes that melt instantly on the tongue. So what if the salt costs more per pound than the filet mignon it will be sprinkled on? Enthusiasts say the luxury sea salts making their way on to more supermarket and gourmet store shelves add a clear, refined note to foods that regular processed table salt can't. They wax poetical about its "vibrant, full, sweet bouquet," of the allure of its crunch, sparkle and zing. The cream of luxury sea salts is fleur de sel. These delicate, newly formed salt crystals are harvested by hand on just the right sunny, breezy days between May and September from the surface of seaside salt marshes in Portugal and the south of France. In Portugal and France, fleur de sel has long been harvested as a precious commodity that fetches premium prices. A one-kilogram carton of Fleur de Sel Camargue Rosee des Salins comes with a $36.99 price tag at one gourmet shop. Is it worth it? All salt is basically the chemical compound sodium chloride (NaCl). Sea salt is distilled from sea water. Table salt is mined from the ground. Water is pumped into salt mines to create a brine, which is then pumped into huge kilns, where it is heated to 650 C, until salt crystals emerge once again. Impurities are filtered out and iodine and anti-caking agents such as aluminum silicate are added to make it "free flowing." Purists say the process compromises the salt's flavour, texture and nutritional benefits. They say the traces of calcium sulfate and magnesium chloride removed from the salt are actually necessary nutrients. Maria Loggia, who runs an Italian cooking school in Hudson, Que., says the fancy-salt trend is a welcome antidote to all the bland food we've been eating ever since salt got a bad rap thanks to hypertension. Salt, she insists, is indispensable to good food and good cooking. It sharpens and defines flavour. Or as Jeffrey Steingarten writes in The Man Who Ate Everything: "Salt unites the diverse tastes in a dish, marries the sauce with the meat, and turns the pallid sweetness of vegetables into something complex and savoury." Sure, people have to control their salt intake, Loggia concedes. And some people are more prone to high blood pressure than others. But must we all subsist on tasteless fare? She recommends curbing our consumption of high-salt processed foods before putting away the salt mill. "Most people are so afraid of salt that they don't season anything. So their food is plain and bland," Loggia says. Forget table salt, she says, it's too sharp and one-dimensional. "In my mouth, all I taste is its saltiness." Go for sea salt. Salting is a skill, she says. "You have to salt in layers. A little at a time -- that way you're less likely to oversalt." Pasta, for instance, needs a tablespoon (15 mL) of salt in the boiling water -- she uses inexpensive Diamond Crystal kosher sea salt -- so the flavour can permeate the semolina as it softens. No amount of sauce or seasoning later can help if the linguine was cooked without salt, she says. Loggia teaches her students to pinch their fingers and judiciously sprinkle the salt over poultry and meat before roasting. Then, when the dishes are done, she turns to her "finishing salts," the French or Portuguese fleur de sel or her favourite Maldon salt from England. She uses the less expensive, finer sea salt in cooking, and the coarser, more expensive gourmet salts for finishing because they add a little crunch and glimmer to dishes when sprinkled on just before serving. This salt craze is hardly new, though. Ancient Arab traders carved great salt-trading routes around the world. Men of primitive tribes sold their wives and children into slavery for it. Soldiers in ancient Rome received a special salt allowance, a salarium -- the Latin word from which salary derives. The famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda even wrote an ode to salt, Oda La Sal. "The smallest, miniature wave from the salt cellar reveals to us more than domestic whiteness," Neruda marvelled. "In it we taste infinitude." SALTY CHOICES There's a wide range of sea salt available, from inexpensive kosher salt for cooking to fleur de sel, a legend in the world of gourmet salt. Here are some of the most interesting salts we tried: Maldon Sea Salt. From Essex, England. $7.99 for 240 grams. Wedge-shaped soft, flaky crystals. Clean, delicate taste. Not so intensely salty. Fast-dissolving. Great for vinaigrettes, salads, grilled seafood, grilled meats. Le Saunier de Camargue Fleur de Sel. From Montpellier, France. $5.99 for 125 grams. Coarse white crystals with just a hint of sweetness. Nice crunchy texture. Lovely on fresh tomato slices, grilled meats, focaccia or for sprinkling on roasting meat or chicken. Aurora Fine Sea Salt. From Sicily, Italy. $1.49 for a one-kilogram box. Another inexpensive everyday cooking salt for pasta water, soups, sauces. Halen Mon Pure Sea Salt. From Wales. $11.99 for 125 grams. Smoked over oak. Intense hickory-like smoky aroma and flavour. Adds interest to grilled meats or bland cheeses, such as mozzarella or bocconcini. Bela Mandil Flor de Sal. From Algarve, Portugal. $16.99 for 150 grams. Soft, sweet flavour. Comes in an attractive green glass jar. Trad Y Sel Fleur de Sel de Guerande. From Brittany, France. $16.99 for 500 grams. Coarse grey crystals with a hint of a floral bouquet. Fleur de Sel au zeste de citron Saint-Leu. Ile de la Reunion, France. $16.99 for 90 grams. Intense citrus scent with fine hints of lemon-yellow colour in a delicate fleur de sel.Nice on fish or steamed asparagus. Red Alea Sea Salt. From Hawaii. $9.99 for 275 grams. Baked red clay gives these coarse, intensely flavoured crystals their bright coral colour. Potent. Volcano Black Lava Sea Salt. From Hawaii. $5.99 for 125 grams. Activated charcoal, said to be a natural internal detoxifier, provides unique black colour. Coarse texture with a sharp salty bite. Use sparingly. Ran with fact box "Salty Choices" which has been appended to the story. © Copyright 2004 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)