ChileHeadEd on 11/12/2007 at 9:17 pm said:
Artisanal Salt
The curious shopper can find the darndest things. Selected Schnucks are carrying some interesting salts, the best known of which probably is sel gris, a sea salt that comes in large creamy flakes. Beyond that — indeed, well beyond that — are a red Hawaiian salt, called Alaea, receiving its color from the red clay of the neighborhood, with another Hawaiian entry, Hiwa Kai, black from volcanic ash. A Mediterranean entry is called Cyprus Black, and there’s an American salt, Salish, which is smoked over alder wood.
So what do you do with them? I’ve tasted the sel gris sprinkled over a slice of good bread and high-quality unsalted butter, a great combination of chew, smoothness and crunch. I bought some Alaea on our last trip to Hawaii a few years ago and thought it looked good sprinkled over mashed potatoes or on sour-cream-topped baked potatoes. Some people suggest using it for color contrast on the rim of a margarita, but it’s rather pale for that. The black salts give even more color contrast, but on the whole, simple foods show off the subtle flavor differences better. Still, the thought of the rim of a bloody Mary glass coated with the smoked salt keeps running through my head.
Not a novelty item at $16.99 a pound, they’re sold near the olive bar in deli containers of about a half-pound each.
Artisan Salt Co. is based in Woodinville, WA. It is about a 20 minute drive for me. I was going to chime in on this one but decided to let it go and see if anyone else knew about these incredible salts. As for the smoked salt rimmed bloody mary, it is incredible. I currently have the Durango (hickory smoked sea salt), the Yakima (apple smoked sea salt), the Salish (alder smoked sea salt), Alaea (Hawaiian sea salt with red clay, even the fine grit of this one is pretty coarse), Murray River (a light pink flake sea salt which melts very quickly) and Bamboo (a Korean roasted sea salt, a very fine salt roasted in bamboo stalks sealed with clay). All of the smoked salts really kick butt. I use the Salish on salmon, halibut or mahi mahi. The Durango on all red meats and the Yakima on pork and chicken. They are all good on eggs. One thing I have found with the Alaea is people who know me are hesitant to eat anything I make with it unless I reassure them it is just salt no heat. After Nick posts the entries for his little cooking contest you will see I use this stuff all the time. I was thinking on doing a review on them but since the cat is already out of the bag check them out for yourself @ http://www.artisansalt.com. Truely worth the money you can use half the salt and get more flavor. With all this in mind why would anyone use iodized table salt?
]]>Many cases indeed!!! ]]>
]]>thakswet on 11/12/2007 at 10:53 pm said:
For example; I currently have:
Sel Gris Fine De Guerande and course
Fumee Del Sel – AWESOME
Velvet De Guerande
Pink Himalania – very strong
Flower of Bali – #2 world-wide.
Sale Marino – Fine Sicilian Sea – again strong
and my tie for #1 Le Saunier de Camargue; Fleur de Sel
Murry River Flakes is also tie for #1
Pepper wise: if your into true taste…. try Balinese Long Pepper by Big Tree Farms. amazing.
Yet all of above can be found at JUNGLE JIM”S.
another plug. LoL
]]>Sel Gris Fine De Guerande and course
Fumee Del Sel – AWESOME
Velvet De Guerande
Pink Himalania – very strong
Flower of Bali – #2 world-wide.
Sale Marino – Fine Sicilian Sea – again strong
and my tie for #1 Le Saunier de Camargue; Fleur de Sel
Murry River Flakes is also tie for #1
Pepper wise: if your into true taste…. try Balinese Long Pepper by Big Tree Farms. amazing.
]]>I’m a salt extremist. I have at any point 12 different salts on hand.
Yes, crazy!!!!
]]>The curious shopper can find the darndest things. Selected Schnucks are carrying some interesting salts, the best known of which probably is sel gris, a sea salt that comes in large creamy flakes. Beyond that — indeed, well beyond that — are a red Hawaiian salt, called Alaea, receiving its color from the red clay of the neighborhood, with another Hawaiian entry, Hiwa Kai, black from volcanic ash. A Mediterranean entry is called Cyprus Black, and there’s an American salt, Salish, which is smoked over alder wood.
So what do you do with them? I’ve tasted the sel gris sprinkled over a slice of good bread and high-quality unsalted butter, a great combination of chew, smoothness and crunch. I bought some Alaea on our last trip to Hawaii a few years ago and thought it looked good sprinkled over mashed potatoes or on sour-cream-topped baked potatoes. Some people suggest using it for color contrast on the rim of a margarita, but it’s rather pale for that. The black salts give even more color contrast, but on the whole, simple foods show off the subtle flavor differences better. Still, the thought of the rim of a bloody Mary glass coated with the smoked salt keeps running through my head.
Not a novelty item at $16.99 a pound, they’re sold near the olive bar in deli containers of about a half-pound each.
]]>