today's musing - Sea Salt
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I grew up in a place where most salt was mine salt. Sea salt was all the rage and everyone said it was better. When I went to India, most salt was sea salt. Mountain salt (Himalayan) was all the rage and everyone said it was better. Now here in Canada, Himalayan pink salt is better because... well, it's pink :) All you don't have is better and neighbor's grass is greener. We also import water from Fiji in a country with one quarter of the world's fresh water reserves. There is no limit to how gullible some people are.
Mircea
I'm Italian, I have both salts at a stone throw and I only buy italian salt (there is literally no reason to import any). I never understood the trend of himalayan pink salt, I bought some and apart from being a bit harder and less salty I didn't find anything different.
GCS d--(d-) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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Sea Salt is an ingredient that is listed in large letters on many products. Seems to be just hype. Other than the size of the salt crystal, can anyone detect a difference with table salt? It's all NaCl. I know there can be traces of other elements, but that's unrelated to the basic salt, right? (I'm ignoring other kinds of salts such as KCl.)
The only differences between the various brands of NaCl are the trace elements & impurities. Many commercial brands add some iodine and a dessicant (makes the salt run more easily in damp climates), and I suppose that the impurities could affect the look of the salt and perhaps the taste. IOW, it won't make any difference whether you use the cheap stuff or salt collected from the Himalayas by underage Sherpas. :)
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
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I'm Italian, I have both salts at a stone throw and I only buy italian salt (there is literally no reason to import any). I never understood the trend of himalayan pink salt, I bought some and apart from being a bit harder and less salty I didn't find anything different.
GCS d--(d-) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
But, but,... it's pink! :laugh:
Mircea
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The only differences between the various brands of NaCl are the trace elements & impurities. Many commercial brands add some iodine and a dessicant (makes the salt run more easily in damp climates), and I suppose that the impurities could affect the look of the salt and perhaps the taste. IOW, it won't make any difference whether you use the cheap stuff or salt collected from the Himalayas by underage Sherpas. :)
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.
Eh, not really. I had experience with some premium salt with more potassium (because it's better) and it was bitter, it ruined every dish. The mine sal I bought, which I admit was the cheaper I ever found, was too fine, dirty and ruined every dish - I used it for the road.
GCS d--(d-) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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I'm Italian, I have both salts at a stone throw and I only buy italian salt (there is literally no reason to import any). I never understood the trend of himalayan pink salt, I bought some and apart from being a bit harder and less salty I didn't find anything different.
GCS d--(d-) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
Thought you would prefer Sicilian salt that is produced manually, I once visited the salt pans and the museum over there :-\
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Thought you would prefer Sicilian salt that is produced manually, I once visited the salt pans and the museum over there :-\
The word "Manually" only means they can charge more money. Advertising. Produced manually, versus say, automatically. lol silly talk
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Thought you would prefer Sicilian salt that is produced manually, I once visited the salt pans and the museum over there :-\
Adriatic Sea is nearer than Sicily, though the amount of salt produced by Sicily far outclasses the amount produced by our Adriatic facilities. Not that anyone can tell the difference except for the price point.
GCS d--(d-) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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It is all about Advertising. The same can be said about the latest craze here in the States; plant based butter. In actuality, there are no major differences between "margarine" and "plant based butter". Which sounds healthier? Which sounds more wholesome, and vegan/vegetarian friendly? At the end of the day, it is all bullshitery.
Slacker007 wrote:
there are no major differences between "margarine" and "plant based butter".
I guess that today, you are essentially correct. But historically, margarine has been made from both animal fat, like lard, and marine oils, such as herring or whale oil. In my childhood, margarine based on soya was something new; the old margarines where whale based (and hard as stone when you fetched in from the fridge). The brand names are still the same, but they have been 'improved' (sounds better than 'changed'!) into pure vegetable based versions today. Maybe animal / marine based margarine never was very common in the States, but margarine is certainly not by definition plant based.
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Slacker007 wrote:
there are no major differences between "margarine" and "plant based butter".
I guess that today, you are essentially correct. But historically, margarine has been made from both animal fat, like lard, and marine oils, such as herring or whale oil. In my childhood, margarine based on soya was something new; the old margarines where whale based (and hard as stone when you fetched in from the fridge). The brand names are still the same, but they have been 'improved' (sounds better than 'changed'!) into pure vegetable based versions today. Maybe animal / marine based margarine never was very common in the States, but margarine is certainly not by definition plant based.
You may live in the past, I sure as hell don't. Margarine currently, here in the states, is almost identical to "plant based butters". There are tons of web site articles on the subject. So, my comments are still true, and still stand. You have not convinced me otherwise.
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Sea Salt is an ingredient that is listed in large letters on many products. Seems to be just hype. Other than the size of the salt crystal, can anyone detect a difference with table salt? It's all NaCl. I know there can be traces of other elements, but that's unrelated to the basic salt, right? (I'm ignoring other kinds of salts such as KCl.)
There's "Sea Salt Chocolate" which taste better (I'm convinced) than one made with table salt. Sea salt seems to taste less salty. Then there is the black kind for variety (I guess).
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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Slacker007 wrote:
there are no major differences between "margarine" and "plant based butter".
I guess that today, you are essentially correct. But historically, margarine has been made from both animal fat, like lard, and marine oils, such as herring or whale oil. In my childhood, margarine based on soya was something new; the old margarines where whale based (and hard as stone when you fetched in from the fridge). The brand names are still the same, but they have been 'improved' (sounds better than 'changed'!) into pure vegetable based versions today. Maybe animal / marine based margarine never was very common in the States, but margarine is certainly not by definition plant based.
My father told how margarine was sold with a separate packet of coloring -- to mix in at home. Apparently pressure from the Dairy industry would not let them sell margarine that was the color of butter. No idea what ingredients were used to make that margarine.
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My father told how margarine was sold with a separate packet of coloring -- to mix in at home. Apparently pressure from the Dairy industry would not let them sell margarine that was the color of butter. No idea what ingredients were used to make that margarine.
Wikipedia: Margarine[^] tells about the raw material in old days, as well as about the 'color wars'. Norwegian Wikipedia tells that German butter manufacturers demanded that margarine be colored blue or green, to distinguish it from butter (the demand was rejected). Also, margarine was to be packed in cubic packages, whereas butter was sold in rectangular prism packages. I remember this from my childhood, but I never knew that it was a legal requirement!
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I grew up in a place where most salt was mine salt. Sea salt was all the rage and everyone said it was better. When I went to India, most salt was sea salt. Mountain salt (Himalayan) was all the rage and everyone said it was better. Now here in Canada, Himalayan pink salt is better because... well, it's pink :) All you don't have is better and neighbor's grass is greener. We also import water from Fiji in a country with one quarter of the world's fresh water reserves. There is no limit to how gullible some people are.
Mircea
Quote:
There is no limit to how gullible some people are.
The word "gullible" has been removed from the dictionary.
Nothing succeeds like a budgie without teeth. To err is human, to arr is pirate.
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Sea Salt is an ingredient that is listed in large letters on many products. Seems to be just hype. Other than the size of the salt crystal, can anyone detect a difference with table salt? It's all NaCl. I know there can be traces of other elements, but that's unrelated to the basic salt, right? (I'm ignoring other kinds of salts such as KCl.)
I read "today's music - Sea Salt" and got really excited for a moment :sigh:
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Sea Salt is an ingredient that is listed in large letters on many products. Seems to be just hype. Other than the size of the salt crystal, can anyone detect a difference with table salt? It's all NaCl. I know there can be traces of other elements, but that's unrelated to the basic salt, right? (I'm ignoring other kinds of salts such as KCl.)
I once seen "suited for lactose-intolerant" on a bottle of water. The lengths marketing departments go to sell products to idiots never cease to astonish.
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I grew up in a place where most salt was mine salt. Sea salt was all the rage and everyone said it was better. When I went to India, most salt was sea salt. Mountain salt (Himalayan) was all the rage and everyone said it was better. Now here in Canada, Himalayan pink salt is better because... well, it's pink :) All you don't have is better and neighbor's grass is greener. We also import water from Fiji in a country with one quarter of the world's fresh water reserves. There is no limit to how gullible some people are.
Mircea
-
Sea Salt is an ingredient that is listed in large letters on many products. Seems to be just hype. Other than the size of the salt crystal, can anyone detect a difference with table salt? It's all NaCl. I know there can be traces of other elements, but that's unrelated to the basic salt, right? (I'm ignoring other kinds of salts such as KCl.)
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I read "today's music - Sea Salt" and got really excited for a moment :sigh:
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It DOES sound like the name of a musical artist you would appreciate!
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Quote:
There is no limit to how gullible some people are.
The word "gullible" has been removed from the dictionary.
Nothing succeeds like a budgie without teeth. To err is human, to arr is pirate.
The word 'dupe' will be next.
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Sea Salt is an ingredient that is listed in large letters on many products. Seems to be just hype. Other than the size of the salt crystal, can anyone detect a difference with table salt? It's all NaCl. I know there can be traces of other elements, but that's unrelated to the basic salt, right? (I'm ignoring other kinds of salts such as KCl.)
First, totally agree that it's an overhyped thing that most people would never notice the difference and marketing people use to push their products. That being said, this would fall under terroir[^]. Normally used when referring to wine, but I think it can apply in this case too. Someone with a trained palette can probably identify different salts and regions vs the average person who wouldn't and just may like one more than the other.
