i spread my homemade nutella (first ingredient: almonds and hazelnuts) on slices of granny smith apple or orange segments, then top with a few grains of maldon.
I always put salt and lemon juice in summer berry cobblers, yes. And if you love salt with watermelon, feta and melon salad is to die for. Also a great hors d’ouvre on a toothpick; cube of feta, cube of watermelon, mint leaf between.
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In my experience, Kala Namak is only used for Chaat Masala, Jajeera and other Snack/Beverage Masalas(Spice Mixes). Never used in great quantity
It’s not healthier for you. It doesn’t technically come from the Himalayas. But pink salt’s appeal has exploded nonetheless.
When the chef and food scientist Ali Bouzari first encountered pink Himalayan salt in a store, it was in a specialty spice shop in Denver. “I asked one of the clerks what it was good for, and she just looked at me and deadpanned: ‘Being pink,’” he told me.
The salt’s color is certainly key to its success as an Instagram icon of aesthetically pleasing home cookery; there are more than 70,000 images under the #pinksalt hashtag. But it also works on another, less obvious level. According to Mark Bitterman, the author of several books on fine salts, Himalayan pink’s aesthetic difference allows consumers to read other differences into it. “We’ve been told we’re not supposed to eat salt, but we need to, and we’re biologically compelled to, and flavor doesn’t work without it,” he says. “So we had to find some way to understand this tension between the existential terror of eating it and the physiological reality of needing it. What we did was we said, ‘Uh, natural salt, pink salt, whatever—that’s safe.’”
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Geez louise, that’s rich coming from the guy that took “Himalayan” salt mania out of the old-time health-nut crowd and over to the modern fashion-chasing food bloggers. The guy who sells more “Himalayan” pink salt horseshit housewares than anybody else:
Though I must say that if I ever go to Pakistan I will want to visit the Khewra salt mine. Looks uniquely beautiful.
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Actually, recently a new French restaurant announced that their menu was conceived with the salt expert Mark Bitterman. Geeez. I thought he is only active on your side of the continent!
As for salt mine, I have only visited Salzburg in Austria, quite interesting. I don’t know what’s the problem with salt coming in Pakistan, I will be glad to visit that if I visit the country one day.
So Mark is a salt expert. pHd of salt. Laughable
Salt is a big scam today. Yes they might be minute trace element difference, but in the end it’s just salt. Now salt texture is more relevant when used as a finishing salt
I have 5 kinds fo salt
Kosher salt ( for brining and part of rub for smoking)
Pink Himalayan salt ( bought a huge box from Costco and has been using it for the last few years)
Morton’s salt- I add this to the pasta water when I am cooking pasta and also has it for those rare occasion when I have dental work .It diminishes swelling of the gum because of its osmotic effect
Peugeot’s Coarse Sea Salt- 15 or more years ago, when I started collecting Le Creuset, I bought a set of Peugeot S/P U Select 12" grinder from Wm Sonoma in Paris Red and Lemon Yellow. They were very beautiful, as I was starting to collect Le Creuset in different colors and trying to match their color scheme. I purchased salt from Whole Foods, had problem and so, I wrote to Peugeot, who sent me another one of those salt grinder. I still had problem, at which point, Peugeot sent me a bottle of their salt, and advised me to only use their salt, purchased from Swiss Army Knife. It came in 20 ounce bottle. I have only purchased 3 times since then. Peugeot is a great company! My S/P grinder sits on my counter. I believe the yellow was discontinued but I still see Paris Red being offered.
Maldon flaked salt - which I love for soup.
Yes, in fact I think it’s more relevant in general. You want big chunks for something like grilling a steak but not for most other things. The bigger lighterweight kosher flakes for brining and marinading and poultry rubs. Fine salt for things like popcorn.
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There is not much difference in these salts except of a little bit taste which doesn’t matter that much
Our grocer was out of our usual finishing salt, Maldon. So we got Falksalt. It is a very nice substitute.
How do you use Maldon salt for soup. While cooking? A shower on bowls? Other?
There are sound reasons why so many good cooks use Diamond Crystal. It is easy to pinch. Being more coarse than Morton, you need more to achieve the same level of saltiness, making it easier to use without over salting. It is flaky enough that you can use it as a finishing salt on things like vegetables and salads, but it is in no way a flake like Maldon.
Coarse sea salt garnished on pancakes is wonderful.
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