Other Kinds of Salt

In addition to ordinary sea salt, which may contain trace mineral elements, numerous “finishing” salts are now widely available, such as fleur de sel (harvested in France) and Maldon salt (harvested in England), Himalayan pink salt (not to be confused with tinted curing salt), black salt from India, smoked salts, and salts infused with flavors (plum, truffle, saffron, vanilla, mushrooms). My favorites are fleur de sel and Maldon, which have a fresh, clean flavor and a lovely delicate crunch; they add flavor, visual appeal, and textural pleasure to foods. They tend to be expensive, so you wouldn’t want to use them in cooking, only as a finishing garnish. These are a matter of taste; if you’re into specialty salts, there are plenty to explore (see Sources). But garnishing salts and kosher salt for cooking should be thought of as two different entities entirely.