If you were asked today to name some types of salt, how many would you be able to without referring to the most common one — table salt?
It is important to know about the variety of salt we have in the world particularly salt that are present in the different types of food we need.
Salt come in many forms, but it’s important to learn about the different types of salt and its importance.
Today we look at some common salt types listed by www.wideopeneats.com and look at the not so common ones that are often used by professional cooks or chefs.
1. Table Salt
The most common — is harvested from salt deposits found underground. It’s highly refined and finely ground, with impurities and trace minerals removed in the process. It’s also treated with an anti-caking agent to keep from clumping.
Most table salt is iodised, meaning iodine has been added to prevent iodine deficiency, which can (and does, in much of the world) cause hypothyroidism and other maladies.
2. Kosher Salt
It is a flakier and coarser -grained than regular table salt. Its large grain size makes it perfect for sprinkling on top of meat, where it releases a surprising blast of flavour. Kosher salt also dissolves quickly, making it a perfect all-purpose cooking salt.
However, most kosher salt does not contain any added iodine, and only rarely any anti-caking agents. Despite the name, all kosher salt is not certified kosher. Rather its used in the koshering process, when surface fluids are removed from meat through desiccation.
3. Sea Salt
Harvested from evaporated sea water, sea salt is usually unrefined and coarser-grained than table salt. It also contains some of the minerals from where it was harvested – zinc, potassium and iron among them, which give sea salt a more complex flavour profile.
Sea salt is a pretty broad term, as it includes some of the specialty salts described below. Sprinkle it on top of foods for a different mouth feel and bigger burst of flavour than table salt.
4. Himalayan Pink Salt
Of the different types of salt, Himalayan salt is the purest form of salt in the world and is harvested by hand from Khewra Salt Mine in the Himalayan Mountains of Pakistan. Its colour range from off-white to deep pink, rich in minerals it contains the 84 natural minerals and elements found in the human body — Himalayan salt is used in spa treatments as well as the kitchen.
Its mineral content gives it a bolder flavour than many other salts, so use it as a cooking and finishing salt, or to add a bit of flair to a salt-rimmed margarita.
5. Celtic sea salt
Celtic sea salt is harvested from the bottom of tidal ponds off the coast of France. The salt crystals are raked out after sinking, this plus the mineral rich sea water is extracted from gives Celtic salt its moist, chunky grains, grey hue and briny taste.
6. Kala Namak (Black Salt)
Is Himalayan salt that’s been packed in a jar with charcoal, herbs, seeds and bark, then fired in a furnace for a full 24 hours before its cooled, stored and aged.
This process gives kala namak its reddish black colour, its pungent, salt taste and a faint, sulphurous aroma of eggs. It’s often used in vegan and vegetarian dishes to give egg-free dishes the taste of egg, as well as in Ayurveda practice.
7. Flake Salt
Harvested from salt water through evaporation, boiling or other means, flake salt is thin and irregularly shaped with a bright, salty taste and very low mineral content.
8. Black Hawaiian Salt
Also known as black lava salt, black Hawaiian salt is a sea salt harvested from the volcanic islands of Hawaii, it gets deep, black colour from the addition of activated charcoal.
9. Red Hawaiian Salt
Also called alaea salt, this unrefined red Hawaiian salt gets its name and colour from the reddish, iron rich volcanic clay alaea.
Used for centuries in ceremonial ways for cleansing, purification and the blessing of tools, red Hawaiian salt is also great in the kitchen, adding an attractive finish and robust flavour to seafood and meat.
