Know Your Sea Salt?

The Morton® salt umbrella girl has a lot of company. New varieties of hand-harvested artisan sea salts can accent your entrées and make flavors pop.

Artisan sea salts are often used to finish dishes; for instance, a sprinkle of Italian sea salt studded with rich black truffles on a buttered baguette is a palate pleaser. Fleur de Sel, revered for its delicate taste and ability to unite flavors, is a perfect complement to heirloom tomatoes.

Look for texture, color and aroma differences when selecting sea salt. Because sea salts have larger crystals than regular table salt, you can see how much you are using. Show them off on the dinner table in fancy cellers, decorative ceramic or wooden dishes that will impress your guests.

The New Salt Shaker

Sea Salt/Bay Salt: Naturally evaporated salt containing trace minerals from the sea.

Sel Marin/Sel Gris: Organic sea salt from the coastal area of Guèrande, Brittany, France. Its light grey color is a result of the clay from the salt flats where it is collected. Use in bread making or on roasted meat.

Fleur de Sel: Also raked by hand from the salt fields of Guèrande, Brittany, France. For every 80 pounds of Sel Gris, only three pounds of Fleur de Sel is harvested. Use to finish seared foie gras.

Hawaiian Alaea: The pinkish-brown color comes from Hawaiian red clay called alaea. Mix with herbs for use on fish. 

Black Sea Salt/Kala Namak/Sanchal: A tan mineral salt possessing a strong, sulfuric flavor. Often used in authentic Indian chaats. 

Korean Bamboo Salt: Made by roasting sea salt in bamboo cylinders plugged with yellow mud. Popular in Kimchi-pickled cabbages, turnips or cucumbers-and on grilled fish.

Danish Smoked Salt: Created by the Vikings, this salt is produced by evaporating seawater over an open, smoky fire containing juniper, cherry, elm, beech and oak. Rub a pinch into salmon.

Peruvian Pink Sea Salt: From an ancient ocean trapped underground 10,000 feet high in the Andes Mountains. The "minerally" quality enhances sliced ripe tomatoes.

Japanese Nazuna Sea Salt: Naturally crystallized in dishes made of hinoki (Japanese cypress). A nice accompaniment to sweet soy and scallions.

--Nicole Potenza Denis

Nicole Denis is a regular foodspring.com contributor and is the author of foodspring’s foodie-mom blog.

Photos by Charles Schiller

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