Every living thing on Earth needs salt in order to survive. Unlike the sweetness of sugar, however, there is no way to synthesize saltiness using other chemicals—in other words, we can't replace salt with its Splenda counterpart. In the kitchen,ther tis nothing more important than salt. Keep scrolling for more on the impact salt has on our lives and diets.
There are several salt varieties on the market these days: table salt, sea salt, and even the fanciful pink himalayan sea salt.
There are several salt varieties on the market these days: table salt, sea salt, and even the fanciful pink himalayan sea salt.
- TABLE SALTTable salt – the most common – is harvested from salt deposits found underground. It’s highly refined and finely ground, with impurities and trace minerals removed in the process. It’s also treated with an anti-caking agent to keep from clumping.Most table salt is iodized.
- KOSHER SALTKoshering salt – or kosher salt, in the U.S. – is flakier and coarser-grained than regular table salt. Its large grain size makes it perfect for sprinkling on top of meat. However, most kosher salt does not contain any added iodine.
- SEA SALTHarvested from evaporated sea water, sea salt is usually unrefined and coarser-grained than table salt. It also contains some of the minerals from where it was harvested – zinc, potassium and iron among them.
- HIMALAYAN PINK SALTis harvested by hand from Khewra Salt Mine in the Himalayan Mountains of Pakistan.
- CELTIC SEA SALTCeltic sea salt is harvested from the bottom of tidal ponds off the coast of France.
- FLEUR DE SELLiterally “flower of salt,” fluer de sel is a sea salt hand-harvested from tidal pools off the coast of Brittany, France.
- KALA NAMAKKala namak (“black salt” in Nepalese) is Himalayan salt that’s been packed in a jar with charcoal, herbs, seeds and bark, then fired in a furnace for a full 24 hours before it’s cooled, stored and aged.
- FLAKE SALTHarvested from salt water through evaporation, boiling or other means
- BLACK HAWAIIAN SALTblack Hawaiian salt is a sea salt harvested from the volcanic islands of Hawaii. It gets its deep, black color from the addition of activated charcoal.
- RED HAWAIIAN SALTAlso called alaea salt, this unrefined, red Hawaiian salt gets its name and color from the reddish, iron-rich volcanic clay alaea.
- SMOKED SALTSlow-smoked up to two weeks over a wood fire (usually hickory, mesquite, apple, oak or alder wood)
