Edible salts, also known as table salts, are salts generally derived from mining (rock salt) or evaporation (including sea salt). Edible salts may be identified by such characteristics as their geographic origin, method of preparation, natural impurities, additives, flavourings, or intended purpose (such as pickling or curing).
Flavor altered by type of wood used or length of smoke process
Truffle salt
Any salt which has been flavoured with truffles or artificial truffle flavoring.
Artisinal or Geographical indications Salts
Artisanal salts are produced using specific, often traditional, methods, resulting in unique flavor profiles and textures. They may be sourced from specific geographical locations, such as coastal regions or salt flats.
Geographical Indication (GI) salts are salts that can only be produced in a specific geographical area. These regions often have unique environmental conditions, such as soil composition, climate, or mineral content, that contribute to the salt's distinct characteristics. To protect their authenticity and quality, many are legally protected such as that of the EU's Protected Designation of Origin products .
Derived from the underground salt deposits in the area. Rocks have a white translucent appearance. There are many caves in the province that are used for salt mining since the Hittites.
Literally "whole salt" or "unbroken salt". A rare Filipino traditional artisanalsea salt made from continually soaking coconut husks in seawater for six months then burning it into ashes. Seawater is then poured through the ashes and the resulting brine boiled in clay pots in a furnace. The result is an egg-shaped lump of salt. It is characteristically sold with the upside down broken clay pot, earning it the nickname of "dinosaur egg salt" due to its appearance. Used as seasoning by scraping over food. [3][4]
Artisanal salt called asin sa buy-o from Botolan, ZambalesAsin sa buy-o
Botolan, Zambales, Philippines
Sea
A rare artisanal salt derived from the sea in woven palm leaves made by locals
Bahamas sea salt
Great Inagua Island, Bahamas
Sea
Sea salt has been produced on Great Inagua Island since the 1930s. The Morton Salt Company bought the facility in 1954. This site, comprising 300,000 acres on Great Inagua Island, produces about a million pounds of salt per year‚ the second largest saline operation in North America. Bahamas sea salt can be found in grocery stores and supermarkets in the United States.[5]
Balinese sea salt
Bali, Indonesia
Sea
This seawater is poured over a flat area of raked black sand and left to evaporate for several days. The dry salty sand is gathered and transferred into a series of coconut trunk vats. More sea water is then poured over the salty sand—this filtering process can be repeated several times, until the briny liquid reaches its briniest. The brine is poured into long hollow tree trunks and left to evaporate completely for a final time. Amed,[6] Kusamba,[7] and Tejakula[8] are regions that produce Balinese sea salt.
Brine is pumped to the surface of a well from 200 meters below ground and evaporated to produce the salt. Production is by Salines d'Einville, located in Einville-au-Jard, in Lorraine, France. Pétales de sel resemble fleurs de sel. Activity began in 1871, renewed in 1988.[9] Similar to salt produced by the J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works in the Kanawha Valley in West Virginia and Maras salt from Peru.
Produced by the J. Q. Dickenson Salt Works in Malden, West Virginia.[13] Brine is pumped to the surface from 300 feet below ground and evaporated to produce the salt. Similar to Einville salt and salt from Maras in Peru.
Salt ponds are more commonly found on coastal plains, filled with seawater from the incoming tide. The ones in Peru are at an altitude of 3,000 metres. It’s a long way to the ocean, but it wasn’t always so; this impressive mountain range was once part the sea floor.
The movement of tectonic plates pushed the seabed up to form the Andes. The sea salt was locked into the rocks and filters out through the Qoripujio spring, which is then routed to roughly 5,000 evap ponds staggered down the valley in terraces.
Salt from the Irish Sea. It describes itself as "the only non-oxidisedsea salt on the planet": the seawater is pumped from the seabed without being exposed to air, resulting in a naturally white salt with a fine powdery grain and a "smooth depth of flavour." They received Protected designation of origin in 2016.
Persian blue salt
Semnan, Iran
Rock
Extracted from a salt mine in the northern province of Semnan in Iran. The intriguing blue colour occurs during the forming of the salt’s crystalline structure, as intense pressure is exerted on the salt deposits. The individual crystals fracture the light in an unusual way and the resulting blue (which is caused by an optical illusion), becomes visible.
A Filipino traditional artisanal salt known for its slightly pink hue due to the shrimp that live in the salt beds from which this particular salt is harvested.
Also known as "dukdok." A Filipino traditional artisanalsea salt made by burning waterlogged driftwood and plant matter. Seawater is then filtered through the ashes and the resulting brine is added to coconut milk and boiled until the water evaporates. It is sold in brick-like lumps.
Utah salt
Utah, USA
Rock
From an underground salt deposit in Central Utah. The deposit was left there by an ancient sea that covered much of North America millions of years ago.
Yellowstone salt
Rock
From a subterranean deposit brought to the surface by spring water and evaporated.
Salinity is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water. It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg.
Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil; the process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization. Salts occur naturally within soils and water. Salination can be caused by natural processes such as mineral weathering or by the gradual withdrawal of an ocean. It can also come about through artificial processes such as irrigation and road salt.
Sodium chloride, commonly known as edible salt, is an ionic compound with the chemical formula NaCl, representing a 1:1 ratio of sodium and chlorine ions. It is transparent or translucent, brittle, hygroscopic, and occurs as the mineral halite. In its edible form, it is commonly used as a condiment and food preservative. Large quantities of sodium chloride are used in many industrial processes, and it is a major source of sodium and chlorine compounds used as feedstocks for further chemical syntheses. Another major application of sodium chloride is deicing of roadways in sub-freezing weather.
An evaporite is a water-soluble sedimentary mineral deposit that results from concentration and crystallization by evaporation from an aqueous solution. There are two types of evaporite deposits: marine, which can also be described as ocean deposits, and non-marine, which are found in standing bodies of water such as lakes. Evaporites are considered sedimentary rocks and are formed by chemical sediments.
Sea salt is salt that is produced by the evaporation of seawater. It is used as a seasoning in foods, cooking, cosmetics and for preserving food. It is also called bay salt, solar salt, or simply salt. Like mined rock salt, production of sea salt has been dated to prehistoric times.
A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes. In some cases, salt lakes have a higher concentration of salt than sea water; such lakes can also be termed hypersaline lake, and may also be pink lakes on account of their color. An alkalic salt lake that has a high content of carbonate is sometimes termed a soda lake.
Lake Grassmere / Kapara Te Hau is a New Zealand waituna-type lagoon in the northeastern South Island, close to Cook Strait. The lake is used for the production of salt.
A salt evaporation pond is a shallow artificial salt pan designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The salt pans are shallow and expansive, allowing sunlight to penetrate and reach the seawater. Natural salt pans are formed through geologic processes, where evaporating water leaves behind salt deposits. Some salt evaporation ponds are only slightly modified from their natural version, such as the ponds on Great Inagua in the Bahamas, or the ponds in Jasiira, a few kilometres south of Mogadishu, where seawater is trapped and left to evaporate in the sun.
Salt, also referred to as table salt or by its chemical formula NaCl, is an ionic compound made of sodium and chloride ions. All life depends on its chemical properties to survive. It has been used by humans for thousands of years, from food preservation to seasoning. Salt's ability to preserve food was a founding contributor to the development of civilization. It helped eliminate dependence on seasonal availability of food, and made it possible to transport food over large distances. However, salt was often difficult to obtain, so it was a highly valued trade item, and was considered a form of currency by many societies, including Rome. According to Pliny the Elder, Roman soldiers were paid in salt, from which the word salary is derived, although this is disputed by historians. Many salt roads, such as the Via Salaria in Italy, had been established by the Bronze Age.
Fleur de sel or flor de sal is a salt that forms as a thin, delicate crust on the surface of seawater as it evaporates. Fleur de sel has been collected since ancient times, and was traditionally used as a purgative and salve. It is now used as a finishing salt to flavor and garnish food. The origin of the name is uncertain, but is perfectly in line with both meanings of fleur:flower, and the surface of something. The salt crust forms flower-like patterns of crystals which may contribute to the name.
Lake Assal is a crater lake in central-western Djibouti. It is located at the western end of Gulf of Tadjoura between Arta Region, and Tadjoura Region, touching Dikhil Region, at the top of the Great Rift Valley, some 120 km (75 mi) west of Djibouti city. Lake Assal is a saline lake that lies 155 m (509 ft) below sea level in the Afar Triangle, making it the lowest point on land in Africa and the third-lowest point on Earth after the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. No outflow occurs from the lake, and due to high evaporation, the salinity level of its waters is 10 times that of the sea, making it the fifth most saline body of water in the world, behind Garabogazköl, Lake Retba, and Gaet'ale Pond. The salt in the lake is exploited under four concessions awarded in 2002 at the southeast end of the lake; the major share of production is held by Société d’Exploitation du Lac and Société d’Exploitation du Salt Investment S.A de Djibouti.
Guérande is a medieval town located in the department of Loire-Atlantique, and the region of Pays de la Loire, Western France. The inhabitants are referred to as Guérandais (masculine), and Guérandaise (feminine).
Alkali, or alkaline, soils are clay soils with high pH, a poor soil structure and a low infiltration capacity. Often they have a hard calcareous layer at 0.5 to 1 metre depth. Alkali soils owe their unfavorable physico-chemical properties mainly to the dominating presence of sodium carbonate, which causes the soil to swell and difficult to clarify/settle. They derive their name from the alkali metal group of elements, to which sodium belongs, and which can induce basicity. Sometimes these soils are also referred to as alkaline sodic soils. Alkaline soils are basic, but not all basic soils are alkaline.
Himalayan salt is rock salt (halite) mined from the Punjab region of Pakistan. The salt, which often has a pinkish tint due to trace minerals, is primarily used as a food additive to replace refined table salt but is also used for cooking and food presentation, decorative lamps, and spa treatments. The product is often promoted with unsupported claims that it has health benefits.
A hypersaline lake is a landlocked body of water that contains significant concentrations of sodium chloride, brines, and other salts, with saline levels surpassing those of ocean water.
Sel gris is a coarse granular sea salt popularized by the French. Sel gris comes from the same solar evaporation salt pans as fleur de sel but is harvested differently; it is allowed to come into contact with the bottom of the salt pan before being raked, hence its gray color. Sel gris is coarser than fleur de sel but is also a moist salt, typically containing 13 percent residual moisture.
Asín tibuók is a rare Filipino artisanal sea salt from the Boholano people made from filtering seawater through ashes. A related artisanal salt is known as túltul or dúkdok among the Ilonggo people. It is made similarly to asín tibuók but is boiled with gatâ.
Dabusun or Dabuxun Lake, alternately known as Dabasun Nor, is a lake beside the town Qarhan, just north of Golmud in the Haixi Prefecture of Qinghai Province in northwestern China. Fed by the main course of the Golmud River, it is the largest present-day lake in the Qarhan Playa. Like the other lakes of the surrounding Qaidam Basin, it is extremely saline, with 307–338 grams of salt per liter of water (2.5 lb/gallon).
Geographical Indications in Indonesia are a form of intellectual property consisting of an "indication which identifies goods and/or a product as originating from a particular region of which its geographical environment factors including nature, labor, or combination of both factors are attributable to a given reputation, quality, and characteristics of the produced goods and/or product". Geographical indications can be registered based on the Law on Marks and Geographical Indications Foreign geographical indications can only be registered if they are recognised or registered there. As of August 2021, 93 Indications have been registered.
Halen Môn is a salt-producing company in Anglesey, Wales on the bank of the Menai Strait. Its sea salt, a fleur de sel, has been given Protected Designation of Origin status. It was founded in 1997 by Alison and David Lea-Wilson, who also started the Anglesey Sea Zoo.
References
↑ Bitterman, M. (2010). "Salt Reference Guide". Salted: A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes. Random House. p.187. ISBN978-1-58008-262-4. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
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