Salted_ A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral, With Recipes - Mark Bitterman [54]
The crazy combination of nearly microscopic fleur de sel crystals and the larger, yet supple sel gris crystals in Ilocano Asin position it as one of the grand salts capable of crossing over from wonderfully dramatic play on the most delicate of foods to wonderfully subtle play on the most hearty foods. On a fried egg with wild mushrooms, its crystals will pop and sparkle warmly, lending richer flavor and a more pleasant crunch texture. On a braised leg of lamb with onions, chile peppers, thyme, and mango, it will resonate unobtrusively, allowing your palate to explore in peace the combination of fruity acidity, heady herbaceousness, and meaty opulence.
Containing just 85.6 percent sodium chloride, each crunch delivers a flavor that is rich, warm, and mildly sweet with a balance of 0.51 percent magnesium, 0.29 percent calcium, and 0.13 percent potassium. This sweetness is carried by a voluptuous body that makes the sensation last and last without becoming harsh or overbearing, guiding its perfectly balanced behavior on food.
While Ilocano Asin might be more technically placed among the sels gris, to do so would diminish its preeminence among the greatest and brightest of salts, sort of like calling the superstar of rock and roll Freddie Mercury an Asian rock star. Maybe I will start referring to Ilocano Asin as a sel gris when everyone else starts referring to Mercury by his birth name, Farrokh Bulsara.
Sal de Hielo de San Fernando
ALTERNATE NAME(S): flor de sal de Cádiz MAKER(S): Salina San Vincente TYPE: fleur de sel CRYSTAL: microfine and very fine; constellations COLOR: wet snow seen through a windshield FLAVOR: reserved, calm; glittering sweetness over a faint buzz of pollen flavors MOISTURE: moderate ORIGIN: Spain SUBSTITUTE(S): fleur de sel de Guérande; Aguni Koshin Odo BEST WITH: raw vegetables; pastries; scattered willy-nilly on piles of fries, grilled steaks, and sausages
Each crystal of Sal de Hielo presents the mouth with a seemingly endless series of elaborations—crystals emulating plant life. The flavor lingers for minutes, first trying to find expression, then tiring of the effort and taking root in the darkness. There, eventually, it sprouts forth and you detect it: a series of tingling sensations. But then it fades away and nothing is left. And that is all.
Tasted on its own, without the fertile soil of a good food to give it purpose, the salt moves toward a sullen flatness that stops just short of bitterness. The flatness is not a shortcoming, but a reflection of the salt’s rejection of silly ideas like tasting salt on its own. Chemically, Sal de Hielo is rich, containing a wide range of minerals—0.65 percent magnesium, 0.13 percent calcium, 0.41 percent iron, 0.17 percent potassium—and dozens of others in trace amounts: the salt really doesn’t need to impress further.
One of the most masterful fleurs de sel you are ever likely to encounter, Sal de Hielo comes from an unlikely little salt farm, the Salina San Vincente, near Cádiz, an area not well known for its fleur de sel. If you visit the Salina San Vincente, you will find Don Manuel Ruiz Coto there, supervising younger members of his family at the fishing nets, grappling with a heavy pipe in the yard, or working in the salt fields. Coto, who is at once amused by other people’s fascination with his work and proud to talk about it, says that no more than half a dozen saltworks in the region continue to employ traditional Roman salt-making techniques. Coto’s salt is thought to be made in Roman era salt pans.
Sugpo Asin
ALTERNATE NAME(S): n/a MAKER(S): n/a TYPE: fleur de sel hybrid CRYSTAL: large, crumpled boxes and wonky granules COLOR: flamingo dander FLAVOR: concentrated; sweet mineral water MOISTURE: moderate ORIGIN: Philippines SUBSTITUTE(S): Ilocano Asin; fleur de sel de Guérande BEST WITH: fresh tomatoes, onions, bananas, mangos, or papayas; fire-roasted