Salted_ A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral, With Recipes - Mark Bitterman [56]
Purchasing note: Grigio di Cervia should not be confused with the more widely available Riserva Camillone salt by Salina di Cervia that is sold in a cloth bag, which, while good, has a markedly different flavor and crystal structure.
THE SALT THAT PROSCIUTTO FORGOT
In medieval times, the legendary salt-cured hams of the Italian peninsula—such as the sweetly bold Prosciutto di Parma in Emilia-Romagna and the milder and faintly floral Prosciutto di San Daniele from Friuli—rose to become icons of regional prestige. While the terrain and climate, pig breeds and feeding, and myriad local techniques all contributed to the unique character of each ham, salt was no less a factor.
The essential ingredients for prosciutto are pork and salt. The great prosciuttos were as much testaments to their regions’ salts as to curing expertise and animal husbandry. It was salt—the moisture in it, the way it was ground, the trace minerals and microscopic organic matter it harbored—that made a subtle but crucial difference in the texture and flavor of the finished ham.
The tidal wetlands of Cervia provided a mineral-sweet salt to the butchers of Parma, and the salt fields of Venice, among others, served Friuli. Prosciutto is now mostly made with salt transported by truck and railway from Trapani, far to the south. The lush flavor of the traditional salt has been swapped for a clear but faintly hot salt with no cultural or culinary connection to the original recipes. But you can still taste the near-maddening sweetness of a good Cervia salt-cured prosciutto in the regional charcuterie shops of central and northern Italy.
The Meadow Sel Gris
ALTERNATE NAME(S): Korean sel gris MAKER(S): n/a TYPE: sel gris CRYSTAL: museum-quality collapsible jewel boxes COLOR: clouds gone pale after rain FLAVOR: firm; round; vibration of nectarine MOISTURE: moderate ORIGIN: Korea SUBSTITUTE(S): sel gris de l’Ile de Ré; grigio di Cervia BEST WITH: all cooking uses; finishing on pork loin, roast chicken, steamed vegetables and butter, caramel
The crystal of this salt confronts you, asserting its identity like a cubic poem on the boundless iterations of geometry in nature. Then you put it in your mouth and it abruptly surrenders to your bite, eager to do your hunger’s bidding.
The resemblance between good French sel gris and the The Meadow sel gris is akin to that of two adopted brothers: they share values and a common purpose in life, yet their attitudes, appearances, and proclivities are their own. The Meadow sel gris is luminescent opal color rather than grey. Its crystals are coarser and not granular, but a combination of tiny hollow pyramids, small boxes, and chaotic bits of stuck-together smaller pyramids and boxes.
The crunch is delicate, almost dainty—surprising for crystals of such heft. The flavor of the salt is so clean it might be called minty fresh, but there’s no trace of herbal pungency. It has not the slightest trace of bitterness, nor the faintest of mineral flavors, but rather something suggesting the sweetness of tropical fruits tamed down. It’s as if, after presenting itself to your senses with an entreating smile, it averts its eyes and walks away. Sprinkling Korean sel gris on food feels like a fleeting privilege, and every time you use it the sensation of your good fortune refreshes itself. It is at once sophisticated and a crowd-pleaser, and it’s certainly one of my personal favorites as an all-around salt for daily use, for cooking, and for finishing any food substantial enough to benefit from a slightly larger but still supple crystal—from steamed summer squash to braised winter roots, from grilled fish to roast beef.
The salt comes from Korea’s best salt fields located to the south on the constellation of islands off the mainland where the waters are renowned for their purity and their thriving marine life. The islands are remote, with only a few of the larger ones accessible by ferry.
The salt makers in the region also credit the pristine mud flats of the area for contributing additional mineral wealth to the