I recently revisited Jeffery Steingarten’s “Salt Chic” piece in “It Must’ve Been Something I Ate.” In the essay, the Vogue food critic explores the validity of exotic salts, and questions whether or not they’re worth paying extra for. “Now, every gourmet store sells costly varieties of salt in a rainbow of colors from the world over. Food fans who once brought back unusual olive oils to their friends back home now come bearing bags of exotic salts,” he writes. Later in the piece he conducts a salt taste test. I thought it would be fun to oversee my own salt taste test this week. The sea salts tasted included a Himalayan pink salt, black lava salt, fleur de sel, Brittany sea salt, Alaea red Hawaiian salt, and sea salt from Trapani. Unfortunately, not all of my co-workers felt the same. “We’re tasting salt?” one questioned. Another shot me a serious stink-eye and sneered, “this is gross.” I promised them something much more delicious next week.
The salts:
A. Himalayan pink salt
B. Black lava salt
C. Fluer de sel
D. Grey salt from Brittany
E. Alaea red Hawaiian salt
F. Sea salt from Trapani
Tasting notes:
Himalayan pink salt
- Like the thick, big grains.
- Pretty, like the rocks on the bottom of a fishbowl you win at the fair.
- Salty.
Black lava salt
- Much flakier, but stronger flavor. Black is cool.
- Very easy to crumble, with a dramatic saltiness.
- Saltier.
Fluer de sel
- Finer, more delicate grain. Subtle.
- Fine. Reminds me of the salt on a movie theater pretzel.
- Salty.
Grey salt from Brittany
- Very, coarse. Love the color.
- Is it crazy to say it’s sweeter? It’s sweeter.
- Less salty.
Alaea red Hawaiian salt
- ………..
- Looks like the sugar on sugar cookies. Tastes salty.
- Salty.
Sea salt from Trapani
- Tastes like the cheap stuff.
- Very dry. Reminds me of road salt.
- Is this salt?
Tally up:
A. Himalayan pink salt 1
B. Black lava salt 3
C. Fluer de sel 0
D. Grey salt from Brittany 0
E. Alaea red Hawaiian salt 0
F. Sea salt from Trapani 0
The winner is:
The black lava salt won this week’s taste test with 3 out of 4 votes (I think mostly because it looks so cool). So, what is your take on exotic salts? Let us know in the comments below.
