History of Fine Sea Salt

Salt is so important to diet and culture in human history that some ancient civilizations used it for currency in trading. There are more than 30 references to salt in the bible, and you will even find references to salt in seminal works of art- perhaps most famously, the container of salt depicted falling over in Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting, The Last Supper. It’s mentioned in ancient Buddhist scriptures and

Salt was used in the mummification process in ancient Egypt, alongside cinnamon. It has also long been a part of traditional Chinese medicine practices, likely since before 2,700 BCE. Salt production in the United States dates back to the 1600s, when the Onondaga Natives living in what is currently New York State would make salt boiling brine from local salt springs. Natives taught Colonial Americans to make salt, and they would boil brines in iron kettles during the mid to late 1700s. It was in 1770, in San Francisco, that solar salt production was likely first successfully done in the United States. California was, and is, an ideal location for solar salt production as it has the perfect combination of a shallow shoreline, even temperatures, long days with direct sunlight, and gentle coastal winds that help with evaporation. Commercial salt production began in the US in the 1850s, when Captain John Johnson settled in San Francisco and began mass producing sea salt. Less than 20 years later, other settlers in that area had managed to create almost 20 other salt companies on the Mount Eden bay.

Fine Sea Salt Cultivation

Our Fine Sea Salt is unrefined. This gourmet sea salt is solar evaporated, pacific sea salt. The saltwater is collected into large pans and set up outside where the sun and wind naturally help the sea water evaporate. The salt that is left behind is then crushed and inspected for size, then packaged and sold as sea salt. Sea salt contains natural trace minerals such as iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, manganese, zinc, and iodine.

What Types of Salt are There?

There are various types of salts. You have your standard, refined table salt and then there are gourmet salts. Under the moniker of “gourmet salt” you will find Himalayan Pink Salt, Hawaiian Alaea Red Salt, and Japanese Sea Salt, among others. These gourmet salts are usually less refined than table salt. Sea Salts of all sizes tend to fall under the gourmet salt umbrella, as well.

Cooking with Fine Sea Salt

Fine sea salt can be used pretty much anywhere you would use your standard table salt and is a good replacement for table salt if you are hoping for a more natural, less refined salt to incorporate into your everyday. You likely would not want to use it in place of fancy salts, but you could swap it out for a coarser salt, keeping in mind that this will pack more salt per teaspoon than a coarse sea salt.

A good cook knows how to use salt to enhance a dish without overpowering the overall taste of the individual ingredients. The phrase “season to taste” usually refers to adding salt to a dish to suit the tastes of the person eating the dish.

What Does Fine Sea Salt Taste Like?

Natural sea salts tend to be more flavorful than traditional table salts because they are minimally processed and don’t have all their trace minerals stripped from them. Fine Sea Salt is salty, but not overwhelmingly so.

Substitutions and Conversions

Swap out Fine Sea Salt for any other salt you desire, keeping in mind that each type of sea salt has its own flavor, level of salinity, and best uses.

Read More

When and How to Use Salt During Cooking
The Salt Life
How to Avoid Sodium When You Eat Out