All About Salt

Fleur de sel - Often regarded as the world's finest salt, it is texturally superior to any other. When sun and wind conditions are ideal, fleur de sel, "flower of salt," blossoms on the surface of salt ponds. Almost every panelist has this salt as an all-purpose topping. Chef Douglass Dick sprinkles fleur de sel as a finish on foie gras. What about salt in brownies or pies?

"I don't think baking requires a pedigree salt," said Pittsburgh cooking teacher Jane Citron. "I prefer Sea Salt Fine Crystals (sel de mer fin) by Baleine, but sometimes I just use plain Morton's in the blue cardboard round."

Japanese Nazuna Sea Salt - Solar evaporation ponds have never been an ideal means for making sea salt in Japan, where humidity is high and rainstorms regular. Earthenware vessels for Japanese salt-making date back as far as the Jomon period (8,000 B.C. to 200 B.C.). Nazuna salt is crystallized in dishes made of Japanese cypress, set in solar houses on Kyushu island. The large, dampish crystals give a big, satisfying crunch. Chef Kevin Sousa of Kaya thought he might try this on Kobe beef carpaccio.

Peruvian Pink Sea Salt - This salt comes from an ancient ocean, trapped underground, which feeds a spring 10,000 feet high in the Andes Mountains in Maras, Peru. The warm spring water seeps into terraced ponds in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The ponds, which have been hand-harvested for more than 2,000 years, are owned by individual families, who load the salt on the backs of burros for the long descent into town. Peruvian Pink gets its color from bacteria and algae that grow in the ponds. If you dissolve Peruvian salt in a glass of water, there is no pink residual. This one was unanimously liked. The tasters wished they could sprinkle it on heirloom tomatoes.

Australian Murray River Salt Flakes - These pale apricot-colored salt flakes were a favorite. Salinity is Australia's worst environmental problem, and support for the producers stimulates the removal of salt from sensitive areas. The salt is produced by feeding saline water from the Murray Darling Basin into crystallizer ponds, where it evaporates at a high rate in northwest Victoria's arid climate. "A crunch, then it disappears," said Citron. "I'd buy this one."

Hawaiian Black Lava Salt - Artisan salt farmers create this salt from seawater evaporated in above-ground pools. To add minerals, the salt is evaporated with purified black lava rock. Activated charcoal is added for its color and detoxifying effects. It makes a dramatic presentation.

Hawaiian Red Alae Salt - After drying, this traditional salt of Hawaii is combined with baked Hawaiian red clay. Both the Hawaiian Black Lava and the Hawaiian Red Alae salts get their color and flavor from the added minerals. If you stir either of them into a glass of water, the salt will dissolve and you will be left with red clay or black lava as a residue. This is the tradition in Hawaii. Sam DiBattista of Vivo thinks he'd make black bass sprinkled with a combination of the Hawaiian red alae and black lava salts. "When I first started using topping sea salts, I got overenthusiastic and nearly brined my customers. Then I backed off, and now I use just enough to get that critical crunch."

South African Sea Salt - The best conditions in South Africa are on the west coast, where the climate is perfect for the formation of salt crystals: strong, unpolluted winds and many months of hot, dry weather. This salt comes from the shores of St. Helena Bay, near the Berg river. The rough cubes are big, up to 1/8 inch on a side, and they deliver a huge crunch and a long-lasting finish.

Mexican Benequenes - At the bottom of the Rio Salinas gorge are the salinas of Ixtapa: a small brine well, more than 2,000 years old, and seven long thatched cocinas. Inside, the brine is "cooked" in iron pots set atop woodburning adobe ovens. As the salt forms, it is packed into straw matting tubes to form loaves of salt, most available daily in the market at San Cristobal de las Casas. Almost a powder, benequenes (loaves) partner best with french fries, tortilla chips or Spanish salted almonds.

Maldon Sea Salt - The British coastal town of Maldon, Essex, has been a salt-producing center since the Middle Ages, although legend has it that the secret of salt-making from seawater was discovered there almost 2,000 years ago, when the Romans ruled Britain. The pyramid-shaped crystals give a wonderful crunch and glitter to almost any food.

Danish Smoked Salt - The tasters didn't open the jar until the end, because the aroma is so intense. It is made by a method devised by the Vikings, thanks to the efforts of one man in Denmark who took it upon himself to rekindle this millennium-old tradition. The salt is produced by evaporating seawater in a vessel over an open, smoky fire of juniper, cherry, elm, beech and oak woods. Smoked salt works best on the simplest of foods - a steak, baked potato, grilled ribs. You either love it or hate it. Restaurant reviewer Haigh made a face and rejected it as overwhelming. But Benkovitz's ambassador-at-large, Gene Lichter, asked for a container to take some home. "If I sprinkle this on my breakfast eggs," he said, "I won't need to fry bacon."

All salts are available from www.salttraders.com.