National Culinary Review

This vegetarian sweet potato soup at

Big Jones benefits from sel gris in the absence of umami-rich meat stock.

Paul Fehribach

“Natural salts have distinctive and pronounced mineral and moisture properties that have an amazing ability to enhance flavor,” Bitterman explains. No two have exactly the same texture and mouthfeel, he adds, and each salt has an identity defined by where it comes from, the method employed to make it and the shape and size of the crystal. Then there are the modified salts—those that have been smoked, infused or blended.

“Even the term ‘salt’ is too generic,” Bitterman says. “It’s like saying ‘I’m going to eat some animal.’ Each one has its own personality.” Trapani, from Sicily, for example, is a great all-around salt suitable for cooking, and Maldon, a flaked variety that explodes in the mouth, can provide snap and sparkle.

“Fling it on top of the greens instead
of mixing salt into your salad dressing,”
Bitterman says. “You’ll get a much more
dramatic and dynamic experience. The salt
adds a spark that stimulates the palate.”

ADD A LITTLE SALT

Gourmet salts can be a focal point, asserting rather than simply dissolving and disappearing. As a complimentary snack, the Pairings and Statler Lounge bars in The Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers serve housemade potato and root vegetable chips dusted with a signature sea salt that tea sommelier Cynthia Gold smokes in Keemun tea and cherry wood.

At New York Butcher Shoppe & Grille
in Columbia, S.C., the best-selling
appetizer is Kobe beef tri-tip cooked
on a Himalayan salt block. “The taste is
phenomenal,” says chef Eddie Hargett,
“and the novelty of presenting it this way
gives people something to talk about.”
The right salt can elevate a brine, add
drama to a bowl of soup or transform
simply roasted vegetables. Black Diamond
on a piece of seared tuna or some pink
maboroshi plum salt crystals atop a scoop
of vanilla bean ice cream can be defining.
The key, Bitterman says, is to use specialty
salts knowledgeably and mindfully. He
also countermands what most chefs have
learned. “The traditional technique is to
salt early and often. I advocate adding it
late and strategically.”
Paul Fehribach, chef/owner of Big Jones
in Chicago, likes the slight mineral tang of
Murray River pink flake salt for finishing
full-flavored meats and fish, and says the
texture complements crispy items, such as
roasted vegetables or proteins off the grill
with some crackle on the exterior.