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Heat the oil in a large, heavy pot over high heat until it just starts to smoke. Add 3 kernels of popping corn and, when they pop, add the rest of the popping corn. Cover the pot and shake gently until the corn starts to pop. Shake vigorously over the heat until the popping subsides, cracking the lid occasionally to allow the steam to escape. (Trapped steam makes the protein in the corn toughen.)

Remove from the heat and pour the popcorn into a serving bowl. Drizzle the butter over the top and toss with tongs or two butter knives to coat evenly. Divide the popcorn into six bowls and sprinkle one type of salt over each (see right). Serve immediately.

PAPOHAKU WHITE: a flavor combination of super-buttered movie theater popcorn, amusement park caramel corn, and something you might nibble on in the plush shadows of the Ritz Bar in Paris.

AMABITO NO MOSHIO: the savory one-upmanship of pasta speckled with Parmesan cheese, minus the pasta Parmesan: the Platonic form of umami.

FLEUR DE SEL DE CAMARGUE: the one-salt remedy for impromptu cocktail parties when you forgot the cheese, fruit, and prosciutto; lavished with sweet cream butter, and speckled with fleur de sel de Camargue, popcorn radiates your love and hospitality.

KALA NAMAK FINE: it’s like trying to eat scrambled eggs off a subwoofer of a surround-sound movie about Mount Vesuvius erupting over the cowering residents of Pompeii. Envelop yourself in the exotic sensations of faraway lands … as they are being destroyed.

IBURI-JIO CHERRY SMOKED SEA SALT: flavors hover between the animate world and the eternal brightness of the elements, like stepping from an Arctic blizzard into a brothel.

BLACK TRUFFLE SALT: nature’s contraband in snackable form. Lick your fingers, don’t bite them.

FLAMBÉED BANANAS WITH CYPRUS HARDWOOD SMOKED SALT

SERVES 2

Whereas my second son was born without a volume control dial, my first son was born without an equalizer. The little one bellows and howls at the ceiling, pounds and slams on the floor. The big one rolls his eyes, giggles, and plays mind games, then lavishes you with smiles. Not surprisingly, their loves and fears and wants are nearly opposite, though not in the way you might expect. The big one, when he isn’t politicking, just wants to create elaborate dioramas of war and space travel. The little one, when he isn’t fighting, just wants to climb into your lap for a cuddle. The younger one loves to cook, the elder is a formidable epicurean. They are made from completely different machinery, as if one was crafted by a Swiss watchmaker, the other by a Tasmanian shaman. But they both love flambéed bananas with smoked salt. Cyprus hardwood smoked salt lends woody glints of bacon to the dish, while the salt’s unique massive crystals lend a perfect crunch. Either way, the dish has everything. Banana sugars caramelizing in hot butter, bourbon exploding into fire, and a globe of ice cream—the whole thing set into a smoky haze, like a carnival entering a battlefield.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 bananas, peeled, cut in half, the halves sliced lengthwise

¼ cup bourbon or brandy

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

¼ cup crème fraîche or 2 scoops vanilla bean ice cream

2 two-finger pinches Cyprus hardwood smoked, Halen Môn oak smoked, Maldon smoked, or Maine Apple Smoked salt

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and swirl around the skillet to coat the bottom. When the butter is almost completely melted, add the bananas and sauté until the bottoms are crispy brown, 3 to 4 minutes, checking by slightly lifting one edge of a piece with a spatula. Taking care not to break the slices, flip and fry the bananas until the bottoms are golden, about 3 minutes. Arrange the bananas on plates or shallow bowls.

Remove the skillet from the heat and add the bourbon. Return the pan to the heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Stir in the sugar until melted.

Scoop the crème fraiche or ice cream over the banana and drizzle the sauce over everything. Sprinkle with the salt.

OPTION: Thrill-seekers and bourbon-lovers can