From Caveman to Connoisseur: The History of Gourmet Salt
Interested in Gourmet Salt? Start reading here.
No one knows whether the practice of salting food originated with religious rites, as an experiment with flavor, or with some chance observation of its curative properties, but earliest man recognized the culinary and dietary importance of the salt crystals that formed naturally by the seashore. The salting of food even predates the discovery of fire and cooking, and salting today remains the most effective way to enhance the flavor of foods.
Almost every culinary tradition in the world evolved around the availability of salt. Historically, thousands of artisan saltmakers flourished at the heart of major economic centers and ports of trade. The salts produced from each of these saltmakers brought something unique to the table, with crystals varying with the saltmaking techniques, climates, lands, and mineral contents of the seas from which they were made. For this reason, salt is the prism through which the ingredients, dishes, and people of the world can be experienced in all their fullness and variety.
When gold was discovered in the American West, frontiersmen needing salt to season and cure their foods created massive demand for salt. Aided by technological advances, businesses like Richmond & Company (which later became Morton’s) began to produce salt on ever larger scales, and a century vast international consolidation of salt production ensued. Most companies were wiped out, but key producers of some of the world’s most esteemed gourmet salts survived.
Mark Bitterman :: Apr.30.2008 :: Finishing Salts, Sea Salt :: 3 Comments »
