Salt :: The Gourmet Guide

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Halen Mon, Anglesey Sea Salt - Wales
Halen Mon is 100% natural Welsh Sea Salt, harvested from the fresh Atlantic Waters that surround the Isle of Anglesey - or Ynys Mn (pronounced unn-iss mon) as it is known in Welsh.

Combining traditional methods with the latest technology, the Anglesey Sea Salt Company has developed new processes to perfect the art of harvesting this traditional product. Halen Mon comprises particularly pure, white crystals and contains no additives whatsoever. The crystals are a 100% natural food, providing a balance of minerals and trace elements (such as zinc, calcium and magnesium) essential to the human body, if it is to function efficiently. .

Its crunchy texture is suitable for culinary or table use and it is particularly delicious with fresh raw vegetables and salads.

Bamboo Salt, parched salt, jukyom, jook yeom
A flavoured salt made by filling a hollow bamboo stem that has been cut into sections with plain salt.

Black Salt, kala namak, sanchal
Black Salt has a sulfurous flavor, and is an acquired taste for most people. In ayurveda, black salt is considered an aid to digestion.

Celtic Salt, French Grey Sea Salt
Celtic salt refers to naturally moist salts harvested from the pristine Atlantic seawater off the coast of Brittany, France. These salts, which are rich in trace mineral content, are hand harvested using the Celtic method of wooden rakes allowing no metal to touch the salt. Celtic salts are available in coarse, stone ground fine and extra fine grain.

Coarse salt, coarsely-ground salt, coarse-grain salt
Coarse salt is a larger grained sea salt crystal. Most recipes calling for salt intend using finely ground salt, however, many professional chefs prefer cooking with coarse salt because they can easily measure it with their fingers. It is less moisture sensitive so it resists caking and is easily stored. Uses: Salt crusts on meat or fish, and flavoring for soups, stews and pasta.

Curing Salt, pink salt
This is used to cure meats and fish etc. It's usually dyed pink so that you don't mistaken it for ordinary salt. It consists of 93.75% table salt and 6.25% sodium nitrate.

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Esprit du Sel's Grey Sea Salt
French Grey Sea Salt has been hand harvested from the clay bottoms of the French Atlantic salt marshes each summer since the seventh century. The salts aroma is redolent of the clean sea surrounding the Island of Ré. The island's salt marshes have been designated "Site remarquable du gout", an area of outstanding taste, by the French National Council for the Culinary Arts. Gathered with wooden tools as it has been since the Middle Ages, Esprit du Sel's Grey Sea Salt retains calcium, potassium, magnesium, copper, iron, and iodine for good diet, and nutrition. Neither treated nor washed, it's totally natural. Professionals use this salt to add complex taste and enhance the natural flavor of food. It is excellent for grilling meats and vegetables or to enhance the flavors in soups.

French Sea Salt
Prized for its delicate flavor, fleur de sel, literally the "flower of salt," has been gathered on the island of Ré, off France's Atlantic coast, since the seventh century. Sun and wind evaporate the sea water, leaving fine, light crystals that are skimmed from the surface of salt pans. Beloved by centuries of good cooks, it is distinguished by a subtle, pure flavor and high concentration of minerals. An excellent all-around seasoning.

Guérande Sea Salt
In Brittany near the town of Guerande are marshes and low lying areas suitable for salt fields. There is a mini climate that is much milder that the rest of Brittany. The currents of the Atlantic run cleaner there than many salt harvesting locations. This confluence of nature makes for an ideal area for a salt farm region. Guerande has no peer in Europe for the quality of salt produced.

The fine grey sea salt from Guérande is known as the sea salt with the highest content of magnesium and other minerals. Sel Miran is the perfect all natural replacement for refined table salt.

Hawaiian salt, alaea salt, Hawaiian sea salt, 'alaea
The traditional Hawaiian table salt used to season and preserve. It is non-processed and rich in trace minerals, all of which are found in sea water. A small amount of harvested reddish Hawaiian clay enriches the salt with Iron-Oxide.

Traditionally Hawaiians use this salt in ceremonies to cleanse, purify and bless tools and canoes, as well, in healing rituals for medicinal purposes.

Savor a unique and pleasant flavor while roasting or grilling.

Ittica d', Sicilian Sea Salt
This delicious sea salt is harvested from salt pans along the famous "salt road" between Trapani and Marsala, on the west coast of Sicily. The salt beds are managed completely by hand in a saline reserve protected from industry pollution. Relying on sun, wind, and the clean waters off of Sicily, the salt is unrefined, unwashed, and unaltered in any way and contains more magnesium, potassium and less sodium chloride than regular salt. It is delicate, with a complex balance of sea, brine, and minerals.

Kosher Salt
Isn't necessarily Kosher, but is called that because it's used to prepare Kosher meats. The mineral salt has a cubic crystal shape. A grain of kosher salt is composed of many cubes stuck together. With its large surface area, it can absorb more moisture than a similar sized cubic salt crystal. This makes it ideal for curing meats, which involves absorbing blood from the raw meat. Use a little less when using this in place of the others.

Use as a condiment to highlight salads, to finish roasts and sauces, or to garnish bruschetta.

Maine Sea Salt
The Maine Sea Salt Company, based in Bailey Island, produces this sea salt from ocean water of the Gulf of Maine. The seawater is simmered over an open hard wood fire. Once the heat is reduced, the salt is solar evaporated in shallow pools located in green houses. This works wonderfully by adding to water when cooking lobster and crab. Its large crystal size makes Maine Sea Salt ideal for use in a salt grinder.

Maldon Sea Salt
Maldon Sea Salt is a completely natural product without artificial additives, retaining valuable sea water trace-elements, such as magnesium and calcium. It's pronounced and distinctive "salty" taste means less is required, an advantage for those who wish to reduce their salt intake. It is free from the bitter aftertaste often associated with other salts and salt substitutes.

The pyramid-shaped salt crystals, characteristic of Maldon Salt, are fragile enough to crumble easily between the fingers and have a totally different taste from the regular grains of table salt. It is an interesting exercise to taste common salt alongside Maldon Salt. The common salt sits uncomfortably on the tongue and has an underlying bitterness. Maldon Salt is milder, has the flavor of sea spray and is free from the chemical tang of common salt.

New Zealand Fine Sea Salt
New Zealand - Pacific Natural Fine Sea Salt is harvested from the deep clear waters of the great southern oceans that sweep through Cook Strait between New Zealand's North and South Islands and into the solar salt field. These waters are evaporated using the natural process of sun and wind. At the end of each summer Pacific Natural Sea Salt is gathered so as to maintain the balance of minerals present in salt harvested from the sea.

Pacific Natural Sea Salt
Pacific Natural Sea Salt is harvested from the great southern oceans. These waters are evaporated in Solar Salt Fields using the natural process of sun and wind. Once a year the salt is carefully gathered while taking measures to maintain the balance of minerals naturally present in the salt. This is a wonderful table and cooking salt.

Pink Flake Salt, Murray River
Murray River salt crystals are light & delicate peach colored flakes. They have a wonderfully mild flavor. The texture is ideal for use as a finishing salt. The crystals melt quickly and evenly making Murray River flake salt ideal for finishing, roasting, and baking.

The Murray River is the greatest of Australia's rivers. The source of its water is the snowy Australian Alps. Salt is a natural feature in many Australian landscapes. The Murray-Darling Basin's low rainfall and high evaporation have combined to concentrate salt in the groundwater. This salt is produced naturally from the underground brines in the Murray Darling Basin. A red pigment, carotene, is secreted from the salt tolerant algae. The underground saline waters have been laying dormant for thousands of years. By utilizing these waters the environment is improved and a beautiful salt is produced.

Ravida sea salt
Ravida sea salt is used as a cooking and table salt to enhance the most delicate of foods. This sea salt is harvested from the blue Mediterranean waters along the western coast of Sicily. Naturally produced from the salt pans by evaporation and ground without washing or further refining.

The Ravida family produces this sea salt from the low waters of the Mediterranean along the western coast of Sicily. It is a natural untreated salt, made to traditional methods, rich in minerals such as iodine, fluorine, magnesium and potassium, all of which make it an ideal table salt. The shallow waters of this lagoon, with their high mineral content, combined with the sun and wind, produce this quality sea salt.

Smoked Sea Salt
Smoked Sea Salts are a relatively new and exciting gourmet salt in the US! They are naturally smoked over real wood fires to infuse the salt crystals with 100% natural smoke flavor. Smoked Sea Salts add a unique flavor to a wide range of dishes including roasts, chicken, salads and sandwiches. Unlike artificially infused smoke flavored salts all of our smoked sea salts are naturally smoked. Uses: Great when grilling or oven roasting. This is a must when cooking Salmon. Also adds an authentic smoke house flavor to soups, salads, pasta and sandwiches. Available in coarse grain size.

Velvet De Guerande
Velvet De Guerande is light gray in color and almost the consistency of flour. This is a very delicate crystal that has a "buttery" feel and taste as it melts on your tongue. This is a terrific salt to top any dish, its texture makes it ideal for snacks such as popcorn, sauces and salads. You will naturally use less of this salt because the crystals are so fine, you get maximum flavor from a small amount of salt.