All About Salt
Today on the occasion of Salt Awareness Week we would like to share few less known facts about the salt.
Salt is harvested from ocean water, and now increasingly from salt mines, like the Himalayan Pink Salt mine called Khewra in Pakistan. Salt is mined much like coal, with explosives and excavations.
Salt is a mineral and if no anti-caking agents are added to it, is sometimes labelled as organic, which is not accurate as it isn’t an organically grown substance.
One of the oldest foods in the world, salt is not as much a flavor in itself as it is an enhancer, bringing out the flavors in all kinds of foods. It makes food taste richer and generally better.
Humans crave salt as it has the chemicals we need to survive in the ionic compound composed of sodium and chlorine.
Different Kinds Of Salt
* • Flake Salt:* Pyramid-shaped crystals make this salt brittle and crunchy.
• Slab Salt: Slabs of Himalayan pink salt are used to serve food, as they retain the heat well. These salt trays are usually the mined slabs of pink salt.
• Rock Salt: This salt has uses in ice-cream making and in retaining dry ice, due to its rocky, chunky shape. It is also used to melt ice on the roads.
• Pickling Salt: A fine salt with smaller crystals, this variety is free from anti-caking agents and iodine.
• Kala Namak: Also known as black salt, this Indian variety of salt has traces of copper and caramel, and tastes a bit like overcooked boiled eggs, or even rotten eggs.
• Infused/Seasoned Salts: Various smoked and seasoned salts are in the market providing infusions, flavors and colors like saffron, garlic, vanilla, various kinds of herbs. They are able to blend well, as salt is a preservative in itself.
Common reasons to crave salty foods
• Your body is depleted of sodium when we sweat, which then makes us need to consume more;
• You’re dehydrated;
• You’re stressed;
• You’re not getting enough sleep;
• Salt lights up the pleasure center in your brain and releases a hormone called dopamine, which makes you feel happy;
• Humans have an innate drive to seek salt because it is necessary for survival and historically a rare mineral to find;
• You may have an underlying health issue.
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