Want to drastically improve your cooking? Get the right types of salt and use them well
Salt is often the difference between a good dish and great dish. To season with it right and well, it's helpful to understand the different types of salts and the best ways to use them.
Where does salt come from?
All salt comes from the sea in some form, whether it's taken from the water or pulled out of the ground where seas were long ago. The distinctions between the types we use for food lie in their source and processing.
True "sea salt" is harvested from shallow marshes, ponds or other low-lying areas. It comes from either sunshine and wind evaporating the water and leaving behind the salt or from raking salt off the surface of still water.
Other cooking salts come from solution mining. After water dissolves salt deposits, the brine solution is evaporated and purified. The salt left behind is then dried and refined, ending up as almost entirely sodium chloride.
The harvesting and processing determine the shape, size and
