Next up is kosher salt, the salt I use 95% of the time in my kitchen. Perhaps that’s why it comes in such a big box?

Pictured here is also Morton brand, however I much prefer Diamond Crystal (seen here in Melissa’s steakum pic). In general, kosher salt crystals are larger, yet beautifully uniform bricks. I find Diamond Crystal’s kosher salt exceptional in texture — it’s flakier and easier to break up between your fingertips while sprinkling. This is truly my all purpose salt and I always have it in an easy access dish by my stove. Any dish I’m cooking on the stovetop, any dressings or sauces, any brines or marinades, any slow-cooked dish or roasted item… its in there. By default, I prefer it to be in a portion of the dish that will be cooked, as the kosher salt breaks down extremely quickly with a little heat. If you’re still cooking with iodized salt, please, please give kosher a try. It’ll take a little practice learning to use the right amount since it has a lower salinity than table salt, but you will notice the significant change in quality of your dishes.  Oh, btw, despite the Star of David on the box, almost all salts are kosher according to the Jewish rules.  It’s just called kosher because there’s no additives, like iodine.

Onto the course sea salt!

A while ago, I was told a story about a little old Italian grandma who swore that to boil a good pasta, the water must have the same salinity as the Dead Sea. Ok, so I got a C in chemistry and I’m not going to pretend to know what the ratio of salt content is in sea water, but I did start adding extra salt ( about 2 -3 times what I originally thought was enough) to the water… and it did make a difference. The pasta had more presence. So I tried it when I boiled potatoes for making mashed potatoes. And again, it made every bite perfectly seasoned. You could use kosher for this method, but I’ve really found that the closest my pot of water can get to tasting like the Dead Sea is with a very hard, course sea salt. I personally think it’s way too hard and inconsistently shaped to use in other cooking methods — it really needs a good stew in hot water to disperse all its salty goodness evenly. Plus, it’s really not an expensive investment (I don’t even know what brand this is, I got it at the local megamart) and this container has lasted me almost a year now.

And finally, for that perfect last touch, finishing salt!

For finishing,  I always turn to Maldon Sea Salt, known for it’s beautiful flakiness and giant pyramid-shaped crystals (like the one next to the penny). This is made in Maldon, England using evaporated water from the local estuary. It has a deep, rich salt flavor with a higher salinity than most other salts, so a little goes a long way. It also happens to be Nigella Lawson’s favorite salt, so you can’t go wrong there, can you? If I could afford it, I would probably use it more like kosher salt (Nigella sprinkles it on her famous roast chickens, for example), but for now I use it strictly on a dish I’m not cooking, like a salad or carpaccio, or as just a final sprinkle on a cooked dish before serving.  It’s especially lovely on fresh sliced tomatoes or caprese salad. There are a lot of high-end finishing salts, such as gray salt or pink Himalayan salt, but I’ll be sticking with my Maldon, thanks.

So there you are. Whew, a bit long winded, but I hope I helped illuminate some of the grand possibilities of our little salty friend… er.  salt.  Now go and stock your pantries!!