Pass the Gourmet Salt

Tracy McNamara

	Salt of the Earth

"Where would we be without salt?"
-- James Beard (1903-1985)

If you salted your fries at lunch yesterday, that might mean they've taken on any number of flavors or colors. Gone are the days when salt was simply salt.

Now gourmet chefs in homes and restaurants are using many varieties of sea salts to enhance the flavors and finish of their food -- including pink Hawaiian, Portuguese, French, gray, smoked, ginger and truffle salt.

Sit down at your favorite restaurant and you might find not only that your entree contains an exotic salt but also that the table shaker is full of, say, orange Hawaiian sea salt, as is the case at Abacus, a five-star, award-winning restaurant in Dallas. And chef David Burke, who owns several fine restaurants, says he is so devoted to pink Himalayan rock salt for flavoring that he is actually creating an entire wall made out of it in his new restaurant in Las Vegas hotel The Venetian.

"We have seen tremendous growth in our business over the last few years," says Rob Seideman, owner of Salt Traders, which sells varieties from around the world.

He says customers' most-popular picks are the Danish viking-smoked sea salt and the Cyprus Black Sea salt flakes, which he uses at home to add a punch of flavor to simple dishes such as eggs, baked potatoes and chowders.

"I've definitely noticed an explosion of salts in the kitchen," says Iron Chef America chef Cat Cora, now executive chef at Bon Appetit magazine. "Once known as an everyday pantry staple, you'll now find salt in multiple varieties and even colors in the grocery store."

Flavor Savors

Such a wide array of salt was actually the norm up until the 20th century, when Morton's created an evaporator to make salt white, fine and uniform. But as Mark Kurlansky points out in his book Salt: A World History, we are now a nation that craves unique and more-pungent flavors in food.

In fact, even mainstream Morton's now sells high-end sea salt from the Mediterranean, as well as flavors such as hot salt and garlic salt.

"Salt has been flying off the shelves," says Royal Dahlstrom, a top chef in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minn., who also cooks and consults for a kitchen store. "In all of my cooking classes, there has been a lot of talk about the best ways to use sea salt and the different flavors each one has -- I even do salt tastings."

Chefs such as Abacus' Kent Rathbun, who enjoys using gourmet salt to give dishes distinctive flavor as well as good consistency, say they treat gourmet salt like a fine olive oil or even wine. They often pair various salts to complementary types of food.

"I use fleur de sel on fish, gray sea salt when we sear foie gras, East Indian smoked salt ... in some hearty meat entrees and Italian sel grosso for seafood," says executive chef Ivan Flowers from Different Pointe of View in Phoenix, Ariz.

Similarly, executive chef Franklin Becker at New York's Brasserie distinguishes among the unique flavor profiles of each: Welsh sea salt, which has a flaky crystal, for rich foods such as raw tuna and salmon; Australia sea salt for cooked foie gras, to accentuate the sweetness of the caramelized liver; and sel gris from Brittany, France, on grilled steak to provide a robust accent to the meat.

In particular, flavored salts -- those that have been smoked or blended with herbs, spices or other flavorings -- are an increasingly popular option among those experimenting with gourmet salts.

Fans say the blends can provide a more complex combination of flavors, giving salts a unique spicy or sweet edge that enhances food.

Didi Davis, a professional chef and instructor, makes such blends. She says she had an epiphany in Paris, where she first tried vanilla salt and decided to start making and selling her own.

She blends vanilla beans with fleur de sel and likes to serve the mixture on melon, popcorn, corn on the cob and even pork tenderloin.

"People are continuously looking for flavor, especially something new and exciting," Davis says. "With flavored salts, all you have to do is cook, sprinkle and enjoy something new and very flavorful."

Shake It Out

Experts say gourmet salt has taken off these days, in large part, for health reasons. As a result, chefs are getting choosy about the kind of salt they use.

Salt lovers want to find ways to make their daily allowance count to maintain a healthy diet. The USDA daily recommended limit is 2,300 milligrams (about one teaspoon of salt), though the average American consumes twice that amount. Considering that high sodium intake is associated with high blood pressure, which sharply raises the risk for heart attack, stroke, congestive heart failure and kidney disease, it's best to keep an eye on the shaker.

Because gourmet salts are often more flavorful, though, you don't have to use as much, Davis explains.

And true salt aficionados -- especially those who haven't yet reached for a thirst quencher -- will be happy to know the gourmet salt trend has already trickled down to the final course.

Salted desserts are showing up on menus around the country, including at the restaurant in Dallas' Hotel Crescent Court: A Rosewood Hotel, where pastry chef Gianni Santin serves an orange olive oil panna cotta with citrus- and fennel-gray-salted caramel sauce.

"Once diners taste the salted desserts, they are pleasantly surprised with how delicious they are," says Santin. "I like to finish their meals with an unforgettable impression."

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