Salt. It is found in nearly all packaged food. As my husband likes to remind me it is found naturally in our food and he does not see any need to add it to our food. For me, I love salt. I am very fond of all the flavoured salts. I have herbs de provence sel and fleur de caramel. At the markets in France you can salt in many flavours. That said I have never found fleur de caramel salt again.
Once when I was in Boston I dined in a restaurant that did not have condiments on the table. I do not know if you could request them. The chef's philosophy was that the way he cooked the meal it would not need any condiments. I must admit he was right. As much as I like salt I never really considered where it came from.
This is my contribution to Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads and Saturday Snapshots hosted by At Home with Books.
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34 comments:
Wow, that's rather astonishing. I've seen a salt works in New Zealand, but not up that close. And I've never heard of fleur de caramel before- it sounds fantastic! Do you remember where you found it? I'll certainly be on the lookout for it France. Fleur de sel is lovely too of course. I'm enjoying some Tasmanian pepperberry salt at home at the moment.
I recently saw a salt lake/plant near Adelaide and marveled at the piles of salt, but to see it 'farmed' and terraced by hand is quite extraordinary!
I rarely add salt to my food. I'm a pepper fan. This is very intersting, though.
I knew nothing about salt. Thank you for sharing this info. Very beautiful photos.
I couldn't imagine living without salt! How amazing to see an actually working mine. Right now I have some lovely pink Himalayan salt crystals in my grinder.
Fantastic photos. I'm more of a pepper fan but I have to have salt on a baked potato and french fries :)
Thanks for all the information and these beautiful photos.
I have mine at the link below.
Elizabeth
Silver's Reviews
My Saturday Snapshot
Although I like some things that are salted (like potato chips), I too am more of a pepper fan. Interesting photos. Thanks for sharing.
gorgeous photos (and a realistic view of the work there...). I have to say I like all condiments except for salt, but still, I loved this post!
I love salt! My daughter did a semester abroad in France and brought me back a little bag of fleur de sel. But it's gone! These photos were really interesting.
GORGEOUS and amazing photos. What a great look inside something I've never given a millisecond of thought but it's so fascinating.
That fleur de caramel sounds fantastic too ... it brings to mind salted caramel ice cream which is simply to good to be true.
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing.
Fascinating. I've spent some time in Peru but somehow missed the saltworks. I like a good sea salt much better than regular table salt.
That is really interesting! As I am reading your post I am listening to The Gilly Salt Sisters which is about... salt.
It is interesting to see what they are talking about int he book. I may need to reference your post when I do the review. :)
Oh wow! Thanks for this. I had no idea about the salt mines and the harvesting of salt.
I am with your hubby and the only time I add salt to my food is when we have chips from Fish and Chip shop.
carol
I think we tend to not think about the level of work it takes to produce or harvest many of the foodstuffs we put on our tables ... I'll never look at salt in the same way again ...
Thanks for sharing this information. Hopefully, it will make everyone more aware when eating salt-laden foods. Beautiful photos to accompany!
Rebecca @ The Key to the Gate
I try not to use a lot of salt, however I am always astonished when watching the Food Network how much they salt food before cooking.
Thanks for dropping by and visiting.
Great post. I love salt and especially pepper - I am always amazed how many people skimp on the seasonings! They are missing out on the flavour boost to the whole dish! Have a good week.
I am a salt freak! and I loved this interesting post! Thanks for sharing.
I love salt, but we haven't tried anything flavored. We just have sea salt in a grinder. I'm glad you shared that last photo - it really shows the scope of the mines.
Salt is in our lives in many ways we never considered...the word salary is based on the word salt....great blog today♫♪
Hello Esme , this is very very interesting, just the way they are laid out .. I have a friend who went there a few years ago, and saw the Salt mines.
I am with your husband , sorry, we only use salt to cook with .. but I would give different flavours a try , thanks for sharing . Anne
Wow, that is so amazing. I'd love to see a salt works. My Snapshot is at http://goo.gl/GVIbC
What a great post! Thanks for sharing your photos.
I kind of agree with that "no condiment" philosophy. If a meal is prepared correctly there should be no need for salt and pepper at the table. I'd love to dine at the restaurant and meet the chef who chooses to leave the salt off the tables. That better be one hell of a meal. :)
That last picture is amazing. You must have been really high up.
I love salt too, and have used sea salt for a for years. I haven't tried any flavored salts, but fleur de caramel salt sounds really good.
Here's My WC
I haven't tried any of the flavored salts you mentioned, but great photos.
I don't consider salt a condiment , rather it is a mask to the true flavour of foods. I leave it out as much as possible. I do add it when baking, as it is needed in the chemical reaction. i also and shocked at how much salt is added to some recipes. There are a few tv chefs who use so much salt in one dish that it's amazing their blood pressure isn't throught the roof. Interesting photos. Around here the salt is mined from under the lakes.
I don't think I've ever seen pictures of a salt mine. Interesting!
Joy's Book Blog
Great shots and interesting. I've seen salt fields in France, but I didn't see anyone working that hard. Hope you'll play along with my France meme on Monday. Here’s my Dreaming of France meme
Your post reminds me of a nice gift received this year, a collection of about a dozen different salts from all over the world. Wonderful gift for a cook.
WOW M, this is a really interesting post. I never knew exactly how salt was mined. I am also a lover of salt and know the food we eat already has sodium in it but I still love to add a little extra...or I used too! :)
Does water leach through the rocks, then evaporate in the individual ponds?
At the south end of San Francisco bay they have big evaporation ponds for salt. In New Mexico there are deep salt mines where machines grind it out like coal.
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