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By Root 881 0

to flesh they begin to suck moisture from it. And it isn’t just water: the refined sodium chloride very efficiently begins to denature the proteins of the meat, rupturing cell walls. Now powerless, the cells give up all their juicy amino goodness to the voracious thirst of the dry, porous kosher salt. Yet kosher salt’s vampire nature doesn’t give it immunity from fire. The moment the salt feels the heat of the fire, every molecule of moisture it drained from the meat evaporates away, leaving behind dry salt crystals on a desiccated crust of meat.

Sel gris achieves much better results. The salt is so thoroughly saturated with moisture itself that only a little moisture is coaxed from the meat, and because sel gris, unlike kosher salt, is granular and moist, that moisture has nowhere to go. So it sits there, like a lover pausing to caress a flushed cheek, until the searing heat of the fire browns and crusts it, fixing some of the mineral-rich sel gris crystals to the crust in the process. The result: moister meat with a better crust seasoned by a more mineral-rich salt. Fish, shellfish, vegetables, and fruit aren’t grilled long enough to benefit from presalting. Salt these ingredients after they come off of the fire.

GRILLED SESAME SALMON WITH CYPRUS HARDWOOD SMOKED FLAKE SALT

SERVES 4

The plump pink flesh of a salmon needs so little to bring it to life that many people call it quits before they’ve tested its limits. The smoky-sweet flakes of Cyprus hardwood smoked lend an explosive crunch that brings a whole new vocabulary to the language of fish. The salt’s cleanliness penetrates through the richer flavors, adding depth to breadth; its pastrylike crackle gives the palate something firm to hold onto amid the fish’s sometime incessant unctuousness; and its lilt of golden smoke brings an oakiness that incandesces on your palate long after the fish has left the fire.

1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

1 tablespoon white sesame seeds

1 teaspoon Szechwan peppercorns, green or pink or mixed

¼ teaspoon powdered ginger

1¾ pounds wild salmon fillet (about 1¼ inches thick), pin bones and skin removed

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, preferably black sesame oil

4 two-finger pinches Cyprus hardwood smoked flake salt

2 sesame leaves, coarsely chopped, or 1 scallion, trimmed and finely sliced

Preheat a covered grill to medium heat (about 375°F).

Combine the black and white sesame seeds in a small bowl. Crush the peppercorns with the flat side of a broad knife, like a cleaver or a chef’s knife. Add the pepper and the ginger to the sesame seeds and stir to combine. Set aside.

Coat both sides of the salmon with 2 teaspoons of the sesame oil. Scatter the sesame seed mixture all over both sides of the salmon and press lightly into the flesh.

Brush the grill grate thoroughly with a wire brush to clean it, and coat it lightly with oil. Grill the fish for 10 minutes with the lid down, turning halfway through, until the surface is crisp and browned and the flesh feels slightly spongy when pressed at its thickest spot. Gently pull apart the flesh at the thickest part; the center should still be a translucent, darker pink. Transfer to a platter using a wide spatula.

Drizzle the remaining teaspoon of sesame oil over the fish and sprinkle with the salt. Scatter the chopped sesame leaves over the top and serve.

BUTTERMILK LEG OF LAMB WITH THE MEADOW SEL GRIS

SERVES 10 TO 12

The sheep is one of the first animals domesticated by mankind. For about ten thousand years, we’ve been living together and feeding each other. The true testament to the strength of our relationship is that it hasn’t changed much. The passion is still alive. One secret to this long-lived tryst is that sheep are uniquely unwilling to give up their sheepy flavor, so that every time we eat them it’s like a first date, or the first time, or an earlier time, or a mythic time. We’ve domesticated the gaminess out of most everything we eat, but every time we toss a leg of lamb on the fire we grow bushy and wild, our countenance waxing fierce amid the ghostly