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Beyond table salt is a whole new taste

The spice rack has expanded in the past few years and salt, once dependably white, now comes in varying hues, textures and exotic flavors.

Chefs are developing new ways of cooking with salt, using it to bake and garnish foods from fish to salad. Some types:

KOSHER SALT: This salt tastes better than table salt, possibly because it has no additives, but also because the irregularly shaped crystals dissolve more slowly. It's easier to pick up a pinch of kosher salt and control the way it flows onto whatever you're seasoning than it is table salt, which tends to flow too quickly from your fingers.

According to Morton (www.mortonsalt.com) kosher salt can be mixed with water to form a thick paste to encrust meat and fish. After baking, the crust is removed, leaving behind moist meat or fish.

TABLE SALT: This salt is made free-flowing through the use of additives, is sold with added sodium iodide for nutritional reasons, but the flavor is very slightly apparent.

ROCK SALT: This salt is less refined than other salts, and its best uses are as heat retainers, such as for a bed upon which to roast oysters or for adding to ice for the ice cream maker.

CELTIC SALT: Naturally evaporated sea salt harvested from Atlantic marshes in Brittany, France. Its flavor is somewhat mild, almost mellow.

FLEUR DE SEL: The phrase means "flower of salt." This is the crystalized salt that occurs naturally on top of salt ponds when the weather is right. It is gathered by hand. It is opaque, with a hint of sweetness and minerality. It has a sparkling crunch and is used as a finishing salt.

HAWAIIAN ALGAE SALT: Sea salts from Hawaii that are colored either by iron oxide in the red clay of salt ponds or by clay being added to the salt. Use with mild-flavored food. Add as a color accent where appropriate, too.

PORTUGUESE SALT: Sea salt from salt pans, the southern coast of Portugal or from a spring in the village of Rio Maior.

SEL GRIS: Gray, moist, coarse sea salt from the Atlantic Coast of France. It may also be called Celtic gray sea salt.

HAWAIIAN SMOKED KAI SALT: A light brown, coarse salt smoked over kai wood. Use it on grilled meat and fish.

Some specialty salts can be purchased in stores or gourmet shops. Failing that, check online for spice suppliers. When using salts you have not used before, start slowly.

Taste the salt before you use it, add a little at a time to your food and taste as you go along.

Most natural salts (kosher, sea salts, table salt) won't taste wildly different.

[Last modified February 15, 2005, 11:39:04]