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Salt
Appears in
By Antonio Carluccio and Priscilla Carluccio
Published 1997
Salt was the first preserving agent used by man and as a result was extremely valuable, in fact the word ‘salary’ comes from salario meaning that part of people’s earnings which used to be paid in salt. Salt is most notably used in the preservation of fish such as cod, anchovies and herrings. However, it is also used to preserve capers and, above all, for curing of all the many and varied pork products.
There are three types of salt, the refined commercial salt, coarse treated sea salt and very coarse untreated sea salt. Sea salt is still made in Trapani in Sicily and in Sardinia by flooding flat areas with sea water and letting this evaporate in the sun. The resulting salt is then treated and refined to make it edible. Some Italians use coarse sea salt when cooking pasta but I like it best on focaccia, when it gives the bread a lovely crunchy quality.