One of my favorite fables as a child, though specifics are a little vague at the moment, involves a king who decided to find out which of his children loved him best. Each child related the king to a food, such as the daughter who called him the apple of her eye. The youngest daughter, however, compared the king to the salt in her food. The king took great exception to this and, after belittling the daughter, banished her. The youngest daughter ended up happily married to a wonderful prince and made the attempt to reconcile with her father by inviting him to her palace for dinner. This daughter spoke to the kitchen staff and informed them that the food was to be prepared as usual with one omission: there was to be no salt added to the food!
The king made the journey to his daughter's table and was overjoyed at the abundance of glorious food spread across the table. He noticed many of his dishes of choice and took this to mean his daughter repented of her less than flattering comparison...until he took his first bite. Each dish the king tried was bland and flavorless...this was certainly not his standard fare. To make a long fable short, just as the king was about to have a temper tantrum over what he perceived to be an insult the daughter reminded him of her comparision. "Father," she patiently explained, "When I compared you to the salt in my food, there was no insult. Just as this food is tasteless without the salt, my life is tasteless without you." So...they kissed and made up and visited each others table happily ever after.
Okay, the real fable is much more intresting but I think the gist comes across. Salt may not be the most exotic flavoring device there is, but food (for some people) just isn't the same without it.
The three most common salts found in kitchens are table salt, kosher salt, and sea salt. There are many more, but these are the top picks most often favored by the home cook and each perform best in their own way.
Table Salt: Small finely ground crystals of food grade rock salt, this is quite commonly found on, you guessed it, tables. This is the salt that I always use when I make baked goods such as cookies, cakes and breads. Other salts can be substituted, but as most of these type of recipes are created with table salt (unless otherwise specified) measurements will have to be adjusted to compensate for the difference in strength. Table salt has a more intense and -- well -- salty taste than kosher salt.
Kosher Salt: Kosher salt is a coarse ground salt that has a milder taste than table salt, and contains no additives (there are a few brands, however, that do add an agent to help it flow better). The rough edges of these grains make it ideal for drawing as much blood as possible out of the meat in order to comply with kosher dietary law. A large number of home cooks have adopted this as a staple in most cooking...I, personally, took the lead from all of the chefs on the Food Network. This is the salt I use for anything that doesn't require precision for the ingredients to interact (such as bread and cake). The coarse grind of this salt is wonderful for homemade fries, corn on the cob, pretzels, soups, stews, seasoning meat and poulty...and I could go on. This salt, being less intense than table salt, may need a more generous hand if the preference is for the height of salty flavor.
Sea Salt: There are two camps of people when it comes to sea salt -- those who believe it has a superior taste to table salt and those who believe there is no difference. The biggest difference between the two, perhaps, is that when sea salt comes in the coarser grind it dissolves differently if used as a topping. The taste of sea salt, that glorious ingredient that comes from evaporating seawater, is also slightly different due to the trace minerals it contains that is not found in regular table salt. Though the taste is affected somewhat by these minerals, the nutritional benefit is incredibly small.
There are many other types of salt: seasoned salt, pink Himalayan salt, pickling salt, and decorative colored salt (food coloring alters the looks but does not impact taste) to name but a few. I have not tried the pink Himalayan salt yet, but have had a lot of fun making my own seasoned salt by combining different salts with different herbs and spices and keeping the mixture in empty spice jars. One of my favourites is the jar of salt combined with a smoky Spanish paprika that is heavenly sprinkled over popcorn or chicken.
Unless you have a health concern that places sodium restrictions, feel free to play with salt (in moderation, please!) in its numerous varieties. Salt doesn't have feelings so you don't need to remain faithful to only one variety. Play, experiment, and have fun finding the best uses for each and every type.
