Then we moved and honestly I forgot about the salt—it sat in the back of a cabinet after we moved from Boston to Overland Park, and moved again to our home in Leawood. But when I was organizing our kitchen cabinets a la KonMarie, I ran across the salt and decided it was now or never. So I put the container on the counter and we started experimenting.
To be honest, I had no idea if the colors would translate to differences in taste but mostly they didn’t. Some were saltier or in the case of the smoked salt, smokier. But the main difference we noticed had to do with how fine the grain was and whether the color of the salt discolored our food.
Next, we used the Hawaiian Red Alaea Fine Sea Salt—and boy was it red. It looked like paprika on our food! The taste was fine and the red added a little punch of color to things like eggs.
The Cyprus Black Flake Sea Salt from Cyprus was utterly black—it looked very black on our food and it stained our fingers. So we moved on.
I’m not a fan of most smoked flavors so the next one—Viking Oak Mountain Salt from Denmark—was and is all Kent’s to enjoy. He likes to add it to meat, he says it’s a nice flavor. I’ll take his word for it.
The Himalayan Crystal Pink Mountain Salt from Pakistan was probably the most subtle of all the salts and also had the finest grains. It was a very pale pink, the kind of pink that doesn’t really show up. It wasn’t nearly as pink, for example, as the Murray River Pink Flake River Salt.
Finally, we’re currently using the Qab-nab Taab Sea Salt from El Salvador. It’s also got very fine grains, and a nice mild taste.
So there you have it, a report on some interesting salts. Thanks, Amy and Greg, this was a fun gift!
3 comments:
I love the Maldon too. I only use it as a finishing salt; I don't add it to the pasta water, or put it in things where it will disappear. But it's great - like on a simple plate of sliced tomatoes where you get the crunch!
If Kent likes the smoky stuff, get him some smoked paprika.
We've got the smoked paprika, and he does love it. I'm with you, Maldon is the finishing salt--kosher goes into things that are in the process of being cooked. But boy I love my Maldon's.
After a trip to France where our gracious host put Fleur de Sel as a finishing salt on our steaks, I've been hooked on it. I save it for boiled eggs, avocado, salads and, of course, sliced tomatoes. I've also found a great one for potatos -- Truffle Salt. Mmmmm.
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