June 5th, 2009

Medieval European records document salt-making and on the European Continent, Venice rose to economic greatness through its salt monopoly. Saltmaking was important in the Adriatic/Balkans region as well (the present border between Slovenia and Croatia) where Tuzla in Bosnia-Herzegovina is actually named “tuz,” the Turkish word for salt. So is Salzburg, Austria, which has made its four salt mines major tourist attractions. Bolivia’s salt producing region is a tourist attraction with one hotel constructed entirely of salt and fascinating salt-bearing caravans of llamas.

Salt has also played a vital part in religious ritual in many cultures, symbolizing immutable, incorruptible purity. There are more than 30 references to salt in the Bible, using expressions like “salt of the earth.” And there are many other literary and religious references to salt, including use of salt on altars representing purity, and use of “holy salt” by the Unification Church.

Salt has played a prominent role in the European exploration of North America and Caribbean history, Canadian history, and Mexican history as well. The first Native Americans “discovered” by Europeans in the Caribbean were harvesting sea salt on St. Maarten. The Turks and Caicos island group was a pawn in the power struggles between the French, Spanish and British, and remained virtually uninhabited until 1678, when some Bermudian salt-rakers settled in the Turks islands and used natural salinas (salt-drying pans) to produce sea salt. These still exist on several islands. The Turks and Caicos relied upon the exportation of salt, which remained the backbone of the British colony until 1964.

Today’s large scale salt production is done in one of two principal ways: the evaporation of salt water which is known as brine or by mining. Evaporation can either be done with the heat of the sun to evaporate the water or using some form of heating technology.

Solar evaporation of seawater is how we manage to get most of our own salt here on the Cay whether it is from Fish Cay or from the pockets in the iron shore. In the correct climate (one for which the ratio of evaporation to rainfall is suitably high) it is possible to use solar evaporation of seawater to produce salt. Brine is evaporated in a linked set of ponds until the solution is sufficiently concentrated by the final pond that the salt crystallizes on the pond’s floor.

In the second half of the 19th century industrial mining and drilling techniques originating in China made the discovery of more and deeper deposits possible, increasing mine salt’s share of the market. Although mining salt was generally more expensive than extracting it from brine via solar evaporation of seawater, the introduction of this new source reduced the price of salt due to a reduction of monopolization. Extraction of salt from brine is still heavily used: for example vacuum salt produced by British Salt in Middlewich has most of the UK market for salt used in cooking.

Types of salt that I use:

Murray River Salt

It starts as snowmelt from the Australian Alps descending to the Murray River basin, where a combination of low rainfall and high evaporation have created high concentrations of salt in the groundwater. 

Murray River Australian salt’s pink-tinged crystals, which gain their color from carotene produced by algae that lives in the underground brine, have a cotton-candy texture that imparts a sense of lightness. The flakes have a note of sweetness, and are actually un-salty. This, together with the low moisture content and fine texture, position Murray River as more of a topping than a salt.

Murray River salt should only be applied at the table, just before eating. Strangely, given its subtlety, it is very elegant on that rare caprese salade made from garden fresh ripe back-yard garden tomatoes, sweet basil, and fresh mozzarella.

Marlborough Salt

Marlborough Flakey sea salt has uniquely frothy, three-dimensional crystal unlike any other salt available. It is harvested from the clear waters of the great southern oceans. Currents sweep up the East Coast of New Zealand and into the Solar Salt field located right at the top of the South Island. These waters are evaporated using the natural process of the sun and wind. At the end of each summer the salt is carefully gathered so as to maintain the balance of minerals naturally present in salt harvested from the sea. Marlborough sea salt acquires its impossibly complex and light crystal structure by being very slowly evaporated in an open pan, allowing the formation of very light sea salt flakes.

Andes Mountain Rose Salts

Andes Mountain Rose — Ground up and sprinkled on brook trout, or left whole as a bed for roasted pork loin, Andes Mountain Rose is faintly sweet, glowing with colors as subtle as its flavor. This salt was hand quarried in Bolivia from an ancient dried ocean bed which, over the course of millions of years, had risen with the growth of Andes mountain range. This salt was trapped under a layer of volcanic ash, protecting it from external contaminants, so you are literally tasting the flavors of the earth’s ancient oceans. Over millions of years, these salt crystals have taken on the colors of redish and orange gemstones. This salt is suitable for use in a grinder, whole in cooking, or as decoration at the table or on special dishes. It is very mild, perfectly balanced, and slightly sweet, with a clean finish. Try it on seafood, ceviche, and salads of cucumber, lime, and chilies.

Kala Namak – India’s Volcanic “Black Salt”

Kala Namak, or Black Salt (also called Nirav Black Salt or Sanchal), is a special unrefined mineral salt from Darjeeling, India. It is a volcanic rock salt mined in central India. The finishing salt is not black, but more of a coral pink or pinkish gray, and has a strong, sulfuric flavor. These colors come from the presence of trace minerals such as magnesium, as well as volcanic iron.

Kala Namak is used in Indian cuisine as a condiment, most commonly with snack foods. It is used in chaats (fruit glazes), chutneys, raitas (yogurt and cucumbers mixes), fruit salads, and savory deep-fried snacks. This salt has a strong sulfur taste and smell. While this unique quality is often mellowed when cooked, it still adds a special taste of eggs.

In India, Kala Namak is recommended for people with high blood pressure and to people who are on low-salt diets, because it is lower in sodium and supposedly does not increase sodium content in the blood. In Ayurveda (ayurvedic medicine), it is also known for comforting intestinal gas and heartburn. It is believed to help with indigestion and other digestive problems.

None of this makes it an easy sell to American cooks, but try it in a traditional dish you will get an edifying and satisfying experience. In India, a common appetizer is a pinch of Kala Namak eaten with a slice of fresh ginger before a main meal.

Peruvian Warm Spring Salt

Waters from a warm mountain spring 10,000 in the Peruvian Andes, seeps into terraced salt ponds where it has been hand-harvested for over 2,000 years. The faintly pink crystals have a high moisture content and lower mineral content, making them an exciting alternative to traditional French salts such as sel gris. The pearl-pink crystals of Peru Mountain Spring radiate the beauty of this mountainous country.

This salt’s flavors are complex and mild, rounded and semi-sweet, and dissolve with an understated but resilient crunch on food. Structure, subtle flavor, and rich cultural associations provide a stunning context for a variety of foods, perhaps tracing history, from pre-Inca dishes of tamales, potato, huanaco deer, and seafoods ranging from perch cooked in a banana leaf to a traditional ceviche. From there it assumes its place in criollo recipes such as lomo saltado and papas a la huancaena based on the beef, hen, and rabbit introduced with the influx of Spaniards, Italians, French, Germans, Chinese, and Japanese.

Halen Mon Salt

Halen Môn’s crunchy flaky crystals add an extra something beyond what you will find with many of the other flake salts. For example, where Maldon is like a parchment fine snap of pure balanced saltiness, Halen Môn salt is like mille feuille layered filo, stacking multiple layers of crunch and more pronounced sea-and sun flavors.

The making of Halen Môn marries centuries-old craft with today’s technology. Seawater from Wales’ Menai Straits passes through two filters, a mussel bed (nature’s finest filter), and a sandbank, before being charcoal-filtered. The filtered seawater is gently heated in a vacuum which encourages it to almost boil at a low temperature. As the water releases steam it is concentrated into very salty brine. The steam that is produced is used, in its turn, to heat the brine.

When the concentration of salt in the water is high enough it is released into shallow crystallization tanks. It is here that crystals begin to form, first on the surface then sinking as they grow. The salt is harvested by gently scooping out the flakes. They are then rinsed in brine until they shine with snowy brilliance. Finally, the salt is carefully dried. Now, ten days after being drawn from the sea, the salt is ready.

-Tadd Frye

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