Gourmet Natural Salt Guide – How To Select the Best Gourmet Sea Salt for Your Cooking Needs
Until recently, many people considered sea salt just a basic commodity. It was just salt! However, today, gourmet chefs in both restaurants and homes, have learnt to appreciate and differentiate between the distinctive qualities of a variety of gourmet natural sea salt
The following are some of the most common gourmet salt types:
Finishing Salt
Finishing salts are admired mostly for their inimitable textures – either delicate flakes or moist crystals. Both varieties dissolve quickly and provide a strong crunch. These salts improve the depth of flavors of any meal. They also enhance a table setting with a beautiful and shimmering presentation. Their various flakes and colors make gorgeous garnishes for all dishes.
Coarse Salt
Coarse salt contains large-grained salt crystals. Used best in a grinder, these salts provide an easy means of serving up freshly grounded salt with your meals. You can use coarse salt to:
• Flavor soups
• Make a salt crust on fish or meat
• Flavor pasta, stews and soups
French Sea Salt
These salts are very common in pristine Atlantic seawater. Their harvesting is by hand which means that they preserve their pure taste. Hand harvesting also ensures the salts produce a special moist crystalline texture. French sea salts are excellent for use on grilled meat, cooked fresh vegetables, and salads. They are available in stone ground fine, extra fine grain, and coarse grain.
Hawaiian Sea Salt
Hawaiian Sea Salt is also known as Hiwa Kai, Hawaiian Red Salt, Black Hawaiian Salt, Alae, or Alaea. This traditional Hawaiian table salt is perfect from preserving and seasoning. Available in coarse grain, Hiwa Kai is great for your tableside presentation as well as grinders.
Smoked Sea Salt
These gourmet salts are relatively new and exciting. Smoked sea salts add an enticing and unique flavor to different dishes. They are sumptuous for oven roasting or grilling. When cooking salmon, they are a must have. Smoked sea salts add real smokehouse flavor to sandwiches, pasta, salads, and soups. The salts are available in grain, flake, and course sizes.
