Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Quotable Tuesday: How Salt Is Made

The production of premium salt takes time and attention to detail. Each small batch of sea salt requires weeks of hand panning and grading to produce the perfect grain. Our quality is a testimonial to the artisan nature of this age-old craft.

Black sand beaches are raked smooth with handmade tools of bamboo and palm. Copper vessels sprinkle seawater over the waiting beds. The seed of sea salt has been planted.

The equatorial sun bakes the sand into crisp flakes which are harvested in the cool of the evening. In the flakes of sand the salt has been preserved through evaporation.

Fresh water is poured over the black sand to create a pure and natural brine.

The brine is filtered and left to evaporate in traditional palm wood tables. The resulting grains of salt are rebrined and evaporated to ensure pure white sea salt of the highest quality. - Big Tree Farms, Bali

Cooper's mom just stopped by to pick Dixon up for a walk, and at the same time she brought me a nice little surprise. Her friend Jane, who volunteers with her at the Cylburn Aboretum, was born in Bali. They'd been shopping together once when Patsy bought me some sea salt, and Jane remembered that I'm into fancy salty things. So when she ran across this Balinese fleur de sel at Whole Foods (packaged in a hollow coconut!) she bought it for me.

Is there any better kind of surprise?

The salt flavor is intense, almost meaty, and when I taste something like this, I can't help but comment on how drastically different it is from traditional table salt. It's almost hard to believe they belong in the same family of foods.

Am hoping, now, that I find some radishes at the farmer's market this afternoon. I've been meaning to serve Barefoot's radishes with butter and sea salt for a few weeks now...and this is the perfect time.

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