"James Beard, the father of American Cookery, once asked, "Where would we be without salt?" I know the answer: adrift in a sea of blandness. Salt has a greater impact on flavor than any other ingredient. Learn to use it well, and food will taste good."

I just finished reading a lovely New York Times article my mother-in-law sent along called The Single Most Important Ingredient by Samin Nosrat. The author, Ms. Nosrat, eloquently tells the story of her first impression of salt starting from her childhood days spent at the beach.

"We chased the sandwiches with handfuls of ice-cold grapes or wedges of watermelon to quench our thirst. That snack, eaten while my curls dripped with seawater and salt crust formed on my skin, always tasted so good."

I can conjure up those beach day memories of biting into my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and it being full of sand. Remember that? But oh, that cold fleshy peach from the cooler when bitten into with the dripping salt from the sea...THERE was that sweet and salty flavor. Boom. 

Fast forward (a few decades), and our boys have very different beach day memories. While living in Southern Italy, we would take a beach day in Positano at the beautiful Bagni d'Arienzo. After hours of playing in the azure blue Mediterranean Sea, we would have a 1 pm lunch reservation at the family operated restaurant that sits perched on the top of the beach. Giorgio, the always smiling and kind son, would welcome us with a pticher of chilled white wine with sliced peaches (now we are talking) and our boys would order ice cold Fantas. While sitting in our bathing suits, still dripping from the last dip in the sea, we would order homemade eggplant parmigiana, a lemon pasta, spaghetti scoglio (shrimp, mussels, and clams) and spaghetti con vongole.  It continues to be all of our most favorite place to be and to eat. The close proximity of sitting next to the sea and enjoying the fruits of the sea - literally - clams, mussels, fresh fish, and the pasta immersed in a pot of boiling sea water to be soon plated and inhaled...ahem, I mean thoroughly enjoyed. 

While living overseas in Southern Italy, my husband and I loved to cook with the fresh italian ingredients, such as vine ripened tomatos from the base of Mt. Vesuvius, fresh creamy mozzarella di buffala from the Campania Region, and the ever aromatic basilica - basil leaves. Take those 3 ingredients and layer them on a plate with a gentle pour of golden local olive oil and a pinch of coarse sea salt lightly dusted on top. (Mama Mia...when is the next plane to Naples??!) It is an Italian party of flavors which complete one another and are only enhanced by the last bite of the sea salt on your tongue. 

"Does this mean you should simply use more salt? No. It means use salt better. Add it in the right amount, at the right time, in the right form. A smaller amount of salt applied while cooking will often do more to improve flavor than a larger amount added at the table."

As Ms. Nosrat mentions in "The Single Most Important Ingredient", it is important to learn how to use salt and which kinds to use. I will save that for later discussion. For now, season and taste as you go when you are cooking. Recently, I was following a recipe for Polenta to a 't' from one of my most favorite cookbooks. The amount of salt the recipe called for made me think twice..but who am I,  but a kitchen novice and she has many cookbooks...so I did the same amount and it ruined the dish. My family sat at the dinner table and moved the pile of salt lick polenta around on their dish. All that stirring was wasted because I dumped the amount of salt in and didn't taste along the way as the dish came together. So, lesson learned. Or, as we say in our house, "Everyday is a school day." 

And as they say in Italy, Buon Apetito! Salut! 

Unitil Next time, 

Tami 

Newport Sea Salt Co. Crew Member