As chef, Willie Pike says, “Salt is the most important ingredient in the kitchen. It helps food to sing by enhancing the natural flavours.”

Most of us use salt every day - maybe even three times a day. But how much do we really know about salt? Let’s start at the beginning:

What is salt?

Salt is one of the five basic tastes (along with bitter, sweet, sour, and umami or savory). It enhances foods by essentially turning up the volume of their salty flavours. Salt can also dial down the taste of bitter foods by suppressing our perception of bitterness, and balance other tastes like sweet and sour (salt added to desserts or vinaigrette, for example).

And surprisingly, salt brings out aromas, too, because it helps release aroma molecules from food into the air. These stimulate our olfactory receptors, helping us to smell things.

Where does salt come from?

Salt is a natural mineral comprised of two elements: sodium and chloride. It comes from either the sea or underground salt mines.

What’s the difference between table salt and posh salts?

Table salt is highly processed, it is usually heavily refined and mixed with anti-caking agents to prevent clumping, such as sodium aluminosilicate or magnesium carbonate,

Rock salt is only processed slightly and sea salt has little or no processing involved at all.

Below is a brief explanation about the different types of posh salts:

BoTree’s Fleur de Sel

The fragile structure of sea salt blossom reveals a fine crunch in the mouth, a classic sweet salt experience with the taste of the sea.

Coarse grain sparkly crystals of a uniform shape and size, with some clumping. Vibrant on the tongue with a depth of flavour and mellow richness without being overpowering.

It is made on the salt marshes of Kampot on the far south coast of Cambodia in the crystal clear waters of the Gulf of Thailand, a short cycle ride from our farm. The fine sea salt blossom is the purest and most valuable type of sea salt. It forms only in extreme heat and low humidity into flower-shaped salt crystals.  

To preserve the fragile structure the salt is harvested by hand using special salt rakes.

Kampot Fleur De Sel is one of the finest finishing salts in the world. 

Sea Salt

Sea salt is of course harvested from the sea. It’s often more expensive and favoured by chefs due to its natural characteristics – it tends to be kept coarse and unrefined, with little or no processing going into the manufacturing.

Sea salt also retains different levels of minerals from the sea, which can affect the colour of the grain.

Maldon Salt

Maldon is a sea salt, produced on the Essex coast and contains mostly sodium chloride. Maldon is known for having a light flavor that passes quickly without lingering. It is hand-harvested with the distinctive flaky texture and taste that brings out the best flavours of any dish.

Rock Salts

Kosher Salt

Kosher salt is found in salt mines and usually has an anti-caking chemical added.

The main difference between regular table salt and kosher salt is the structure of the flakes. Chefs find that kosher salt is easier to pick up with your fingers and spread over food due to its large flake size.

The coarse and roughly sized grains are traditionally used to draw blood from meat (making it kosher, hence the name) and also for preserving foods.

Himalayan Salt

Himalayan salt is perhaps the most desired of the rock salts. It is produced in mines in the Punjab region of Pakistan, deep under the Himalayas. It has a light pink colour due to the minerals: potassium, magnesium, and calcium.

Although it is more similar to table salt than sea salt (with 98% sodium chloride) it is less artificial and does not usually contain additives.