SEA SALTS

Are you aware of the variety of salts out there? No? Well, recently I have become obssessed with this information.

This is what is in my salt pantry: Kosher salt, Coarse Sel de Mer, Redmond RealSalt, regular table salt, Fleur de Sel de Camargue (my latest acquisition direct from Paris,) and Maldon Sea Salt picked-up by Leslie during her travels through England. Clearly I have enough salt for the rest of my life.

So what's the deal with salt? The type you choose can either overwhelm or enhance your food. Kosher salt is great for the actual cooking or baking of food. I love the Fleur de Sel for topping the recent pizza I made with Rosemary and olive oil. And the Maldon Sea Salt was just the right texture for home cooked hamburgers I made a few weeks ago. Both the sea salts have a cleaner lighter taste.

Table salt is stronger than I thought--when I did a side by side taste comparison it was clear. My table salt is iodized and I'm wondering if that makes a taste difference. I am substituting my regular iodized table salt with the Redmond RealSalt--I like the taste a bit better. First it is prettier, natural colors of the trace minerals aren't stark white. The taste is better and it isn't as chemically processed. Of course there is personal preference for some of the varieties but if you tried a few of these you would start to appreciate which salt works best for certain dishes.

The Fleur de Sel and the Maldon are too expensive for everyday use but both are my new favorites for finishing off a dish. Plus they both remind me of lovely vacations. I recently read that a light sprinkling of Maldon sea salt on chocolate Haagen Dazs ice cream is heaven so I had to try it--yep, heaven.