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 Chef's Notes |
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Salt in CookingSalt is probably the most important seasoning in cooking. On its own or when used to deliberately make something taste salty, salt's flavor is quite distinct. But salt can also enhance the flavors of other ingredients without calling attention to itself. A light seasoning with salt can bring out flavor, smooth out bitterness, and make foods taste not salty, but more like themselves. Salt also affects the way foods look and smell. Salt will help to preserve the green color in cooked vegetables when added to the cooking water. It has the same effect on cauliflower, keeping it from yellowing. Salt intensifies aromas, making them more apparent. Most of the salt merchandised in America is rock salt, and is pure sodium chloride. It is mined from existing salts that are the remains of long-disappeared oceans. Extracted from the earth, rock salt is boiled down and crystallized. In contrast, sea salt is harvested from existing seas by trapping the saline water in tidal pools -- and by taking advantage of free solar power to evaporate the water until only the salt remains. It has a more interesting character than rock salt or table salt, the flavor being enhanced by the traces of other salts in sea water. There are many varieties of sea salt, dependent upon the region in which the salt was produced. Sea salt does not taste saltier than table salt or rock salt, it's just more expensive. But it is the salt of choice for finishing a dish, because of the subtle nuances of the trace minerals inherent in sea salt. Table salt pours easily because it's refined from rock salt, with anti-caking agents added. Coarse salt has different grain shapes -- cubes and flakes -- which dissolve differently. (Flakes dissolve faster, giving food a brighter flavor.) The small grains of table salt make it a good choice in baking, as they dissolve easily in small amounts of liquid. Kosher salt is less harsh tasting than table salt, less bitter and less salty. The coarse flakes stack upon themselves with a lot of air space, making kosher salt weigh about half as much as the smaller, denser grains of table salt, so when substituting, you'll want to use slightly more kosher salt than table salt. Because the crystals are larger and have a more jagged configuration, it tends to cling to foods surfaces better. It was specially developed to draw blood from uncooked meat, and as such is used as an aid to Jews who adhere to kosher dietary laws. Pickling salt is used to enhance the flavor of pickles. It is simply table salt without the additives that can turn a pickling liquid cloudy. If you can't find it, you can use table salt or sea salt, as long as it doesn't have any additives. Adding a pinch of salt to eggs is standard culinary practice, because the chemical reaction of salt with the fats and emulsifiers causes the egg to break down and smooth out quickly, making it more apt to combine with other ingredients. Salt is an important ingredient in bread making. It adds taste, and inhibits yeast production, thus preserving the bread. It also contributes to the texture, having a toughening effect on gluten. However, salt, being a yeast inhibitor should never be added directly to the dissolved yeast. Salt is an important ingredient in marinades. It draws the water out of the food being marinated, helping to concentrate the flavor of the food. |
Chef's Notes: |
