At Home with Kayla Price 3/7
Salt: the spice of life?
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It is a staple in every kitchen. It heals sore throats, heightens the flavors of food, cleans cast iron, kills weeds, and a myriad other uses. It even gives variety a run for its money as the spice of life! Salt.These days salt is not just salt. It may be pink Himalayan, course ground, sea, black Hawaiian, herb infused, light gray Celtic, Dead Sea, smoked salt, and a variety of other tastes, textures, and origins.Is salt having its day? Has it turned…gourmet? Is salt now considered designer?There was a time when we didn’t want a pronounced salt flavor on anything but our French fries and tortilla chips. Rather, salt was meant to meld in with the other flavors, kind of like a supporting cast member rather the show’s star.Nowadays so many food items have distinct grains of salt dotting their flavor. Think of sea salt caramel flavored ice cream or chocolate; the salt grains are recognizable and not just blending in with the other flavors.My favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe uses fine sea salt that adds dots of salt flavor to the final cookies. Although this may sound weird, it actually works well and makes for a delicious cookie.Recently, I have noticed hard candies are keeping the salt grains whole. I had an original chocolate starlight mint at Roma’s the other night. It grossed me out until I realized the tiny flecks in the candy were salt. I later purchased a bag of butterscotch hard candies at Walmart only to find they had salt grains prominently mixed in.Both in texture and in flavor, the salt did nothing to enhance these candies. The taste of salt lingered on my tongue long after I had consumed a piece of candy.I am not sure how I feel about the prominence of salt in so many foods and candies. Health wise, it is questionable for those with heart and blood pressure issues. But for some folks, they have a sensitivity to salt flavor…meaning a little goes a long way.This salt revolution is fine if consumers have a choice, but should there be a warning label, “this candy contains prominent grains of salt”?I use salt substitute when cooking, but I am very light-handed. I exclusively use unsalted butter. I don’t believe I have ever added salt to a dish when eating out. Although I know salt must be in most dishes to make them taste good, I try to use the very minimum. I believe there can be too much of a good thing.How do you feel about the growing prominence of salt in our foods? Do you think gourmet salt is here to stay or a passing fancy?
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Contributed by Kayla Price
