August 13, 2009
Summer and it's lovely slow heat has finally gotten me, coupled with a few trips (to New York and Bogota), I have been neglecting the spice doc updates! Well ...
Other Names: Sodium Chloride, 盐 (Chinese), الملح (Arabic), Sal (Portuguese), Sel (French), Sal (Spanish) All Translations
Edited by: Chef John, Colin M. Saunders, Culinaria, Alisa Escanlar, mrsound, Melissa Peterman, Katrina Moore, Barnaby Dorfman
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Wikipedia
Salt is a dietary mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride that is essential for animal life, but can be toxic to many land plants. Salt flavor is one of the basic tastes, making salt the oldest, ubiquitous food seasoning. Salt is also an important preservative. Salt for human consumption is produced in different forms: unrefined salt (such as sea salt), refined salt (table salt), and iodized salt. It is a crystalline solid, white, pale pink or light gray in color, normally obtained from sea water or rock deposits. Edible rock salts may be slightly grayish in color because of mineral content. Chloride and sodium ions, the two major components of salt, are necessary for the survival of all known living creatures, including humans. Salt is involved in regulating the water content (fluid balance) of the body. Salt cravings may be caused by trace mineral deficiencies as well as by a deficiency of sodium chloride itself. Conversely, overconsumption of salt increases the risk of health problems, including high blood pressure.
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Anonymous
I was told by my mother who heard it from her mother etc. etc. that iodine is important to the body for fighting the bacteria in food and so it was put into table salt. What then created the salt wars in the 1700 and 1800's? Just for preserving? And why do we need salt to survive?
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Tags: Essential Nutrients
[edit] About Salt
Salt is an essential element of seasoning and preserving food and generally refers to the chemical sodium chloride. It is very frequently combined with black pepper as a flavoring base for recipes. Salt is used in the cuisines of all cultures and is required for human survival.
There are many different kinds of salt, here's a short list:
Iodized Table Salt,
Kosher Salt,
Sea Salt,
Picking Salt,
As a preservative, salt extracts water from foods and bacteria, preventing spoilage.
Recipes With Salt
Smoked Turkey
Liquid Smoke, Salt, Spices
Liquid Smoke, Salt, Spices
Old-Fashioned Crispy Roast Goose
Goose, Pepper, Salt
Goose, Pepper, Salt
Pesto Shrimp and Pasta
Lemon Juice, Salt, Shrimp
Lemon Juice, Salt, Shrimp
French Bakes
Potato, Salt
Potato, Salt
BlueStone
Iodine was added to salt in order to prevent iodine deficiency, a problem in areas of the world where iodine is not naturally present in sufficient quantities within the food supply. I'm not sure about the exact reasons why iodine is essential, but I think at least one of them is that it is a constituent in hormones produced by the thyroid (e.g. triiodothyronine). Wikipedia has some details about this at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_iodised_salt.