Black salt

How would you reply if you were asked “now, would you like white pepper and black salt with that?”. Excuse me? Sounds a little Heston Blumenthal doesn’t it?

Actually salt comes in all shades: palest pink Murray River salt, dove grey Esprit du Sel, sparkling white Fleur de Sel de Guérande from France – and now you can add black Cyprian salt from Cyprus. There is a Hawaiian black lava salt as well.

Without wishing to spoil if for people, you should know that neither salt comes from the ground black. Volcanic charcoal is added to the Hawaiian one, and the Cypriot salt has activated charcoal added. Both salts are seen as being healthier because of this, with a detoxifying effect, which many believe makes it healthier. But it does make a striking accent on light-coloured foods such as potatoes or avocado.

First-century AD Roman author and naturalist, Pliny the elder, not always the most reliable scientific guru, refers to Cyprian salt as a “precious stone”.

 

And while we are on wacky salts: on the charming Ile de Ré, just off the Atlantic coast of France Esprit du Sel salt is still harvested from the marshes at the far end of the island. The local donkeys were once used to transport it, but unfortunately the mosquitoes and corrosive salt irritated the legs of the poor beasts. To protect them the farmers clad the donkeys in chequered trousers for protection, so they and their unusual garb became a sort of unofficial emblem of Ile de Ré.

Just like this mural on a house on the island.

 

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