Salt of the Earth

Salt of the Earth
Magazine: May 2007

Italians eat 10g of salt per day/per person, but in terms of connoisseurs, salt remains the gastronomic domain of the very few. Northern European restaurants offer different types of salt, while in the U.S. and Canada you can find at least 40 varieties. Natural. Salt comes in many colours, densities, sizes and flavours depending on its source. Raw salt contains pigments and minerals, which it absorbs from the sea and the earth it is deposited in. The percentage of these trace elements determine the aroma of the various organic products (collected by hand in uncontaminated areas). “The ancient Celtic method is still used to collect salt in Guérande, on France’s Atlantic coast” says Vincenzo Sardelli, at the helm of pioneering salt company, Sale della Vita. White salt brine. The sea salt of the Algarve in Portugal has been extracted from the Atlantic ocean since Roman times. “Fleur de sel” is a rare and precious salt from Brittany, while the “crystal grains” from Bali are pyramid shaped.

Crystals Made in Italy. The salt mines of Sicily produce an excellent version of the condiment. Those of Cervia produce the light and sweet grains of the “flower salt of Romagna” and the “Camillona Reserve”. The raw grey Igp salt from the Trapani-Marsala coast has a bittery aftertaste. Technicolor. A sharp pink salt with a high iron content is found in Hawaii, flavoured by the purplish volcanic clay carried by red rivers. The “Murray River salt flakes” in Australia are apricot-hued from seaweed carotene. The “Black salt” of Cyprus is so called due to the active carbon content of the earth. Salt Menu. Heinz Beck, the renowned chef of the Pergola at Rome’s Cavalieri Hilton Hotel presents eight qualities of salt, while the book “Salt, one pinch is not the same as another” is a compendium of the recipes of eight famous chef

The first edition of SaltExpò, the world salt review is slated for 3-6 May at the Oltremare Expo Centre in Naples, after which it will be staged in even years in major cities such as New York, Sydney and Beijing. Featuring the “Salt Caravan” and Gambero Rosso with SaltyLabs, while the Piazza Salata is a place to meet and for hosting experiential expos and shows. The Rotte del Sale will explore the salt mines of Salzburg, Goderich in Ontario, Wieliozka, the subterranean city of Detroit with its 50 miles of underground roads, Taghaza, the Saharan city dug out of salt and the Hotel Playa Bianca in the Bolivian Andes, built and furnished in salt. Adhoc wants to break down the salt barriers and will be supported by delegates from across the globe, the World Food Programme and Unicef. A venture that just might put Naples on the map as a centre of culture, gastronomy and business.