On Oct 1, 9:09*am, "James Silverton" >
wrote:

> Oh, the mystical power of sun-evaporated brine, the quite different
> quality of the NaCl crystals! There is of course only one crystal form,
> different appearances (habits) true and they may include small amounts
> of impurities but mostly other flavors would be on the surface. You can
> get different tasting and colored sea salts from mud flats because there
> are other chemicals also present.

I got a jar labeled "finishing salt" in my Christmas stocking last
year. The crystals
are notably flatter and larger than kosher salt--in the range of 1/4
inch square. Some
of them are like a hollow pyramid with the base missing. They provide
a distinctly
crunchy texture and powerful saltiness. I'll probably sprinkle some
on my steak
tonight. That's mainly what I use it for.

It eludes me at the moment what the source of the salt is. For all I
care, they could
be table salt reorganized into larger crystals. The effect is all in
the crystal
shape. Oh, there we go. I went to williams-sonoma.com, plugged
"finishing salt"
into the search, and came up with a picture that looks like the jar I
have. Here's
the description:

Mild in flavor and a favorite with chefs, the pyramid-shaped white
flakes are hand
harvested from the coastal waters of the Mediterranean island of
Cyprus.


Cindy Hamilton

Cindy wrote on Thu, 1 Oct 2009 06:30:10 -0700 (PDT):

>> Oh, the mystical power of sun-evaporated brine, the quite
>> different quality of the NaCl crystals! There is of course
>> only one crystal form, different appearances (habits) true
>> and they may include small amounts of impurities but mostly
>> other flavors would be on the surface. You can get different
>> tasting and colored sea salts from mud flats because
>> there are other chemicals also present.

> I got a jar labeled "finishing salt" in my Christmas stocking
> last year. The crystals
> are notably flatter and larger than kosher salt--in the range
> of 1/4 inch square. Some
> of them are like a hollow pyramid with the base missing. They
> provide a distinctly
> crunchy texture and powerful saltiness. I'll probably
> sprinkle some on my steak
> tonight. That's mainly what I use it for.

> It eludes me at the moment what the source of the salt is.
> For all I care, they could
> be table salt reorganized into larger crystals. The effect is
> all in the crystal
> shape. Oh, there we go. I went to williams-sonoma.com,
> plugged "finishing salt"
> into the search, and came up with a picture that looks like
> the jar I have. Here's
> the description:

> Mild in flavor and a favorite with chefs, the pyramid-shaped
> white flakes are hand
> harvested from the coastal waters of the Mediterranean island
> of Cyprus.

"Milder in flavor" is absolute nonsense; salt is salt. I did not want to
launch into a description of the various *habits* of cubic NaCl but
cubes, pyramids, even hollow ones, are known and they may well give
different mouth textures just as the larger crystals of kosherizing salt
work better in some preparations than the small crystals of table salt.
If you are measuring by volume you may well get less salt with the
bigger crystals.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

On Oct 1, 10:46*am, "James Silverton" >
wrote:
> *Cindy *wrote *on Thu, 1 Oct 2009 06:30:10 -0700 (PDT):
>
>
>
>
>
> >> Oh, the mystical power of sun-evaporated brine, the quite
> >> different quality of the NaCl crystals! There is of course
> >> only one crystal form, different appearances (habits) true
> >> and they may include small amounts of impurities but mostly
> >> other flavors would be on the surface. You can get different
> >> tasting and colored sea salts from mud flats because
> >> there are other chemicals also present.
> > I got a jar labeled "finishing salt" in my Christmas stocking
> > last year. *The crystals
> > are notably flatter and larger than kosher salt--in the range
> > of 1/4 inch square. *Some
> > of them are like a hollow pyramid with the base missing. *They
> > provide a distinctly
> > crunchy texture and powerful saltiness. *I'll probably
> > sprinkle some on my steak
> > tonight. *That's mainly what I use it for.
> > It eludes me at the moment what the source of the salt is.
> > For all I care, they could
> > be table salt reorganized into larger crystals. *The effect is
> > all in the crystal
> > shape. *Oh, there we go. *I went to williams-sonoma.com,
> > plugged "finishing salt"
> > into the search, and came up with a picture that looks like
> > the jar I have. *Here's
> > the description:
> > Mild in flavor and a favorite with chefs, the pyramid-shaped
> > white flakes are hand
> > harvested from the coastal waters of the Mediterranean island
> > of Cyprus.
>
> "Milder in flavor" is absolute nonsense; salt is salt.

Sorry, that was due to bad quoting on my part. They've got a set of
three
jars of salt. Two are colored and presumably taste like where
they came from. The white salt, which is what I've got, is "milder in
flavor".


> I did not want to
> launch into a description of the various *habits* of cubic NaCl but
> cubes, pyramids, even hollow ones, are known and they may well give
> different mouth textures just as the larger crystals of kosherizing salt
> work better in some preparations than the small crystals of table salt.
> If you are measuring by volume you may well get less salt with the
> bigger crystals.

Well, since I just sprinkle it onto a cooked steak, I reckon I am
measuring
by volume.

Cindy Hamilton