Salty Dog

Our Favorite Dane!

If you are new to Salt Traders, you will soon find out that one of our most favorite products is our one-of-a-kind Danish Viking Smoked Salt! We are proud to be the sole vendor in North America to bring to you this wonderful product direct from Denmark.

The artisan salt maker (pictured) discovered through ancient Viking literature descriptions of smoked salt, which led him to experiment with different smoked wood. The resulting Danish Viking Smoked Salt is a particular blend of juniper, oak, cherry, elm and beech. Sea water is boiled down over this unique wood fire blend. The result: smoky perfection! Saveur Magazine writer Kelly Alexander described it best: “The resulting salt tastes like a bonfire; its strong, haunting flavor is best enjoyed when the crystals are sprinkled on simple dishes like scrambled eggs, baked potatoes, and grilled steaks” (Issue No. 58, page 34).

Give this small but mighty salt a try – you won’t be disappointed! Use it to transform meat, potatoes, chowders, corn on the cob, chocolate and caramel!

The Rise of the Salt Tooth

During a recent surf session, the Salty Dog came across this article...enjoy!

http://www.chow.com/stories/10502

A Bit of History from Paradise

Remember the Reeses Peanut Butter Cup commercials, in which the Chocolate “met” the Peanut Butter, and the match was instantly recognized as perfectly delicious? In ancient Hawaii, on the island of what is now Kauai, red volcanic clay called Alaea “met” Sea Salt when, during heavy rains, the red clay sediment seeped into the ocean from Kauai’s rivers. When this red ocean water became trapped in tidal pools, evaporation created Hawaiian Red Alaea Sea Salt.
 
While much of the salt was used by ancient Hawaiians in sacred rituals in which security was sought for everything from canoes to homes and temples, the salt was also used to preserve food. Today, the salt is used by Hawaiians in traditional dishes like Kalua Pork, and by discerning restaurant and home chefs who appreciate this salt’s unique history, taste and appearance.

However, generally speaking, the salt will serve you well anytime you want to add dramatic, colorful impact to any dish.  Enjoy!!

Nat'l Salt Awareness Week

Wow! It was National Salt Awareness Week! January 29 – February 4, 2007

I had no idea. No one told me.

As many of you know, I live in Aspen, Colorado, a small but worldly and culturally sensitive town with a Main Street running through the town center, and above which there are always banners indicating all kinds of weeks to celebrate or sympathize with:  National Family Week, National Environmental Education Week, National Volunteer Week. But no Salt Awareness Week.

Why not? Probably because of the inanity of the idea. Check this out:

Sponsored by CASH (Consensus Action on Salt and Health), the main theme for Salt Awareness Week “is the progress that has been made in terms of salt reduction…”  Are you kidding? There’s been progress in terms of salt reduction? How does CASH explain, then, the exponentially growing number of happy friends and clients Salt Traders makes year after year?! How do they explain this year’s first annual International Salt Expo (more on that later) in Naples May 3-6?  Last year, CASH’s all-but-captivating theme was “the issue of salt and its effect on ethnic groups who are particularly sensitive to the effects of salt. The focus was mainly on the African Caribbean population.”  You’ve got to be kidding. Do me a favor, CASH… let me know when you study those populations, like the Japanese, who consume more sodium than any other, yet miraculously have incredibly low rates of heart disease.  Who backs these idiots, anyway?

Well, CASH was awarded a grant from the Food Standards Agency “to investigate how effective a one-to-one advice session would be on reducing salt in the diet of African-Caribbean people.” Who is the Food Standards Agency? They’re an independent watchdog agency, about as brilliant as my own watchdog (the infamous Salty Dog), who tends to bark and carry on at the front door countless times a day. And each time I’m suckered into getting up from my desk to see who might be at the door.

Who’s at the door?   About 90% of the time, absolutely f…ing no one! Just like when the equally brilliant watchdog, the Food Standards Agency, barks at the door of good people everywhere, warning them of the dangers of salt. About 10% of the time, there’s someone at the door for whom salt might actually be a concern. The remaining 90% of the time, there’s absolutely no one at the door for whom salt should be a concern.

Why?   Ask any doctor worth his salt, and he’ll tell you that it’s about 10% of the American population for whom salt is bad. What about the rest of us, those 90% with real worries like the mortgage, sick kids, terrorism and stupid dogs? Well, our bodies expel any excess salt we might happen to consume in the course of thoroughly enjoying our meals.  So, please, go back to worrying about the things that matter, and eat well.

History of Salt - China, Salt, and Natural Gas

From Mark Kurlansky's Salt: A World History.  "....In 252 b.c., he ordered the drilling of the world's first brine wells. 

These first wells had wide mouths, more like an open pit, though some went deeper than 300 fet.  As the Chinese learned how to drill, the shafts got narrower and the wells deeper. 

But sometimes the people who dug the wells would inexplicably become weak, get sick, lie down, and die.  Occasionally, a tremendous explosion would kill an entire crew or flames spit out from the bore holes.  Gradually, the salt workers and their communities realized that an evil spirit from some underworld was rising up through the holes they were digging.  By 68 b.c., two wells, one in Sichuan and one in neighboring Shaanxi, become infamous as sites where the evil spirit emerged.  Once a year the governors of the respective provinces would visit these wells and make offerings. 

By a.d. 100, the well workers, understanding that the disturbances were caused by an invisible substance, found the holes where it came out of the ground, lit them, and started placing pots close by.  They could cook with it.  Soon they learned to insulate bamboo tubes with mud and brine and pipe the invisible force to boiling houses.  These boiling houses were open sheds where pots of brine cooked until the water evaporated and left salt crystals.  By a.d. 200, the boiling houses had iron pots heated by gas flames.  This is the first known use of natural gas in the world."

Are all salts created equal?

If all salt is mostly sodium chloride, then how is it possible that some salts effect food differently than others? Could it be that combinations of trace mineral elements make one salt taste differently than another? Sure, that’s one reason you probably have a favorite bottled spring water. But trace mineral elements aren’t the main reason one salt might be considered different or better than another. The main reason has to do with each salt’s crystallization, which, in essence, is a salt’s texture.     

Texture is critical to all good cooking. It’s why one sauce served over pappardelle is a decidedly different dish than the same sauce served over macaroni. It’s why a baked potato topped with butter and sour cream tastes differently than mashed potatoes made with the very same ingredients. And it’s why a plate of eggs finished with a shaving of black truffle is heavenly, and a plate of eggs finished with a dice of black truffle far less appealing.     

A salt’s texture depends on the environment from which it comes, no differently than a snowflake from my part of the country, Colorado, differs from a snowflake from New England. I love New England, but I’d rather ski Colorado, because its flake is lighter and fluffier. The formation of salt crystals is equally dramatic, as is the effect those salt crystals have on food.     

Imagine, for example, you’ve prepared a Caesar salad. Half the salad you toss in a bowl with finely-grated Parmigiano Reggiano; the other half you toss in a separate bowl with large shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano. The two salads will be decidedly different, in spite of the fact that the cheese in both came from the same wedge. Salt will always be sodium chloride, no differently than Parmigiano will always be Parmigiano, but it’s the discerning cook who takes into consideration the importance of texture.     

For examples of which salts pair best with which foods, please Browse Our Store.

Pairing our natural salts with food

Each salt has its own unique crystal makeup, and, as a result, each brings its own unique qualities to food. Fleur de sel, for example, is better on chocolate cake than even icing, but sel gris will ruin that same cake. This doesn’t make sel gris a bad salt. There’s nothing better sprinkled on broiled, buttery prawns than moist and crunchy sel gris.

And just because it’s great on chocolate cake doesn’t mean fleur de sel is necessarily the best salt for all baked goods. A flaked sea salt from South Africa, Cyprus, Bali, or England is much better than fleur de sel when sprinkled on focaccia just prior to placing the batter in the oven.

Nazuna sea salt from Japan, and all sea salts for that matter, have a magical effect when paired with fish and seafood, while the presence of Mexican Benequenes de Chiapas would hardly be noticed. There’s no better salt, however, for homemade tortilla chips, than Mexico’s Benequenes de Chiapas.

Likewise, the salt I sprinkle over raw vegetables, particularly thick slices of an August tomato, is Peruvian Pink or Ittaca d’or from Sicily. In the winter, however, when sticking to more tender roasted root vegetables, I opt for the Australian Murray River Salt Flakes, which deliver a light crunch and salty burst which fades away on the palate like shaved ice.

Enjoy!