Not to go further than Alice beneath the Christchurch Oak, but there is much overlap twixt a cure and a rub (or a wet brine). Most modern foods aren’t cured for preservation, but for texture and flavor. Smoked salmon that has been brined or cured doesn’t last all that long without having a large % of its water driven out.
I think of “cure” in the sense of Prague Powders 1 & 2, the nitrites and nitrates that keep things like summer sausage safe(er) to keep unrefrigerated. But those powders, ordered up as “curing salt” are put in and on many foods as a seasoning and texture component.
But “dry curing” is a lesser misnomer than “dry brining”.
