Salt: The Only Rock We Eat

Four years ago, my mom took me to Italy for my 40th birthday present. It was an incredible trip. We saw famous art up close and personal and ate pasta and pizza like I’d never experienced. We had gelato everyday (and sometimes twice a day when it was hot). The tour took us to Rome, Florence and Venice; each of which I’d gladly go back to and spend a month exploring. We also spent a day in Siena.

Siena is a city frozen in the Middle Ages. The center of the city, the Piazza del Campo, still hosts a horse race that has been run since medieval times.

The Campo

The Palazzo Pubblico, at the base of the shell-shaped plaza, has a tower that beckons tourists to climb it. Well, it beckoned this tourist. Mom and the rest of our tour group stayed below and had lunch while I climbed over 500 stairs to be rewarded with a heart-stopping view.

The Stairwell

The View

All of Tuscany was laid out before me. I wanted to stay for hours, but the climb up had made me hungry, and being on a tour meant I had to be back to the bus on time.
When I finally got down, there wasn’t much time to eat. We slipped into what I would call a deli but what the Italians probably call by a much sexier name. I’d noticed it on our way to the Campo because of the colorful cords hanging in the doorway. It was a very simple shop with a giant display case across the back wall. Two men stood behind the case; one fat, one tall and skinny, while an older man stood in the corner washing greens.

The men behind the counter were friendly and flirtatious. They listed off all the different kinds of cured meats and cheeses they had to offer. I was overwhelmed and just asked that they make me a sandwich with whatever they liked best.
Oh my god! It was the best sandwich I have ever eaten. I have no idea what was in it or what made it so amazing. To the naked eye, it looked like a salami and cheese sandwich on good crusty bread. In my mouth, it turned into a magnificent combination of flavors and textures that I’m afraid will never be repeated.
Since then, I’ve tried and failed to find cured meat of the caliber I had in Italy. I haven’t found cheese with the same intense flavor, and I haven’t found bread with the same crusty bite. But recently I realized there is one common ingredient in all of those sandwich components, which was probably in perfect proportion in each of them, to make the whole thing come together for that consummate experience. That ingredient is salt.
Yes, lowly salt.
We take salt for granted. Sure, you know it enhances the flavor of foods, but when was the last time you thought about the fact that without salt we would all die. Salt (sodium chloride) is essential to the human body. Without it, our muscles wouldn’t work and our cells would cease to get nutrients. Of course, in our culture of highly processed foods, which are loaded with salt to make them taste slightly better than cardboard, we’re not in much danger of dying from salt deprivation.
Because our bodies need salt, we’ve developed quite a taste for it. Salt is the only one of our five tastes that only comes from one source, so we tend to add it to most of our food to round out and intensify the flavor.
But salt does more than just make food taste better. In the case of my perfect sandwich, each ingredient wouldn’t exist without it.
Bread without salt isn’t really worth eating. Besides being flavorless (with the possible exception, ironically enough, of some traditional breads from Tuscany), bread without salt lacks strength. Salt tightens up the gluten or protein matrix that is the backbone of bread. Without it, bread does not hold its shape as well or rise as high.
And that Sienese sandwich bread was stout and flavorful.
Cheese needs salt for similar reasons. It’s a flavor enhancer and it firms up the protein structure. It also helps draw whey out of the curd and regulate the ripening process. Most importantly, it destroys or inhibits the growth of bacteria and other microbes that might spoil the cheese.
I can assure you the cheese on my sandwich was perfectly ripe and flavorful without a hint of spoilage.
When it comes to cured meats, like salami, most wouldn’t exist without salt. Salt regulates the fluid exchange in cells. A concentration of salt outside the cell wall draws water out of the cell and draws salt, and any flavors added to the salt, in. It dehydrates cells and flavors them at the same time.
Salt also changes the structure of the protein molecules, unbunching them and making them firm but tender. While it’s working on the muscle cells of the meat, it’s also dehydrating and disabling any spoilage microbes, thereby preserving the meat.
And dry-cured aged meat like my salami undergoes more changes as it ages. Because the salt preserves it for months, the protein in the meat has a chance to break down into flavor molecules and the fat cells get to break apart into volatile compounds, both of which greatly enhance the flavor.
And, boy, was my sandwich meat flavorful, tender, and well preserved.
Salt has made our civilization what it is. It allowed us to explore far-off places because we could keep food fresh longer. It has been used as currency (the word salary derives from the word salt) and caused revolutions. And it made my perfect sandwich possible. I just wish there was a way to use in to get back to Siena for another one.


Gravlax (Salt and Sugar Cured Salmon)
serves 10-12

2-3 lbs center-cut fresh wild salmon fillet of fairly uniform thickness, with skin on (preferably from our local Alaska fisherman, Chris White)
4 oz. sugar
6 oz. kosher salt
2 tbs. crushed black pepper
3 tbs. Aquavit
4 oz. fresh dill sprigs

Mix the sugar, salt and crushed pepper together. Sprinkle half of it onto the bottom of a non-reactive baking dish that’s just slightly larger than the filet. Place the salmon skin-side down on the salt-sugar mixture. Pour the Aquavit over the fish. Cover the fish with the remaining salt-sugar mixture. Cover all of it with sprigs of dill. Cover with plastic wrap.
Place a flat plate or pan on top of the fish and weight it down evenly with cans or a brick (about 4-8 lbs) to compress the salmon. Refrigerate for 1-3 days, until the thickest part of the fish is firm to the touch. If it feels raw and swishy, let it cure for another day. Redistribute the cure ingredients as needed halfway through the cure.
When the salmon is firm, remove it from the cure and wash it off well. Slice it paper thin and serve on salad, bagels, or toast points with crème fraiche.
The gravlox will keep for 3 weeks in the refrigerator, wrapped in parchment paper. Change the paper if it becomes wet.

Breakfast of World Champions

Everyone has heard the admonition to make sure to eat a good breakfast. Breakfast refuels your body after a night of fasting and helps your brain and your body get through the first part of the day. There are tons of studies out there to show all the good things eating breakfast can do for you, but my question is: Why in the world would you want to skip breakfast? It’s the best meal of the day.
At our house, breakfast rules. On the weekend we (well, mostly Jon) spend at least an hour putting together something supremely delicious. It might be omelets, home fries, and breakfast sausage (all from local ingredients thanks to Heritage Farms, Vern’s Veggies, and Cascade Creek, without whom breakfast wouldn’t be the same) or huckleberry pancakes or waffles made from yeasted batter left to sit overnight and develop into a delectable and complex flavor. Occasionally, I’ll get a hankering to bake and we’ll have hot biscuits or scones.
There’s always lots of hot coffee and tea (with homemade Irish Crème added if we’re feeling particularly decadent) and on special occasions we get out the juicer and make fresh squeezed Mimosas.
Weekday breakfasts are equally delicious, if a bit pared down. Oatmeal with huckleberries, scrambled eggs on homemade toast, grits with fried eggs and hot sauce, yogurt with fresh made granola and berries are a few of the regulars. My less traditional favorites are leftovers from pizza night or cold spaghetti (I know it sounds weird but don’t knock it till you try it).
This weekend, as I polished off my plate of eggs, potatoes and sausage, I felt quite sure that this was not what everyone in the world considered a perfect breakfast. Other cultures must have equally delicious but foreign fare for their first meal of the day. Maybe I was missing out on something I should try.
After the dishes were washed (the price I pay for having someone cook me a gourmet breakfast in my own home every weekend), I sat down with my second cup of tea and searched the internet to find out what people from different cultures and continents eat for their most important meal of the day.
One of my first discoveries and a new addition to my list of must eats for breakfast was a type of rice soaked in coconut cream and steamed. Nasi lemak is the national dish of Malaysia and is served with various accompaniments including dried anchovies in a spicy sambal sauce, roasted peanuts, and hard boiled eggs. It’s served anytime of the day but is traditionally a breakfast food.
Rice is a predominant theme in Asian breakfasts, with each country and region adding its own twist. Some use last night’s leftovers for the base of the morning meal, others cook the rice to a porridge consistency, and most add ingredients we Westerners would consider “wrong” for breakfast like dried and salted fish (although we do like our smoked salmon) and lots of spicy chilies.
There are also a wide array of delicious sounding breads and noodles served for breakfast across Asia. These are accompanied by stuff you just don’t see on a breakfast plate north Idaho, like pickled vegetables, preserved eggs, dried fish, and spicy curries.
Middle Eastern breakfasts vary as much as Asian ones but there are some common themes. Yogurt and cheeses are eaten along with various flatbreads. Olives, olive oil, tomatoes, and some type of bean dish often augment the bread and cheese. The most interesting Middle Eastern dish I came across was from Iran. Called halim and eaten in the early morning, it’s a wheat porridge cooked with either poultry, lamb or beef. What got my attention is that it is served with cinnamon, butter and sugar; not your typical breakfast combo. At first I couldn’t see how those flavors would combine well, but as I read through some recipes I could see the appeal.
African breakfasts take their influence from either the Middle East or Europe depending on what part of the continent you are in. Northern African breakfasts rely on flat breads (mostly made from millet or sorghum, not wheat) with fish, beans, yogurt and spices for accompaniments. South African breakfast is heavily influenced by its colonizers and features eggs, bread and meat with an unfortunate emphasis on sugary breakfast cereal from multi-national corporations. In poor areas, porridge of cassava, millet, and rice are common along with whatever fruit is in season.
Although coffee is not native to South and Central America, it took to the soils there and flourished. It also became part of the breakfast culture and everything I read about Latin American breakfast begins with a cup of strong coffee or hot chocolate (which I’m guessing is what coffee replaced when it was introduced). Besides coffee, there is no overriding theme. Breads and jam and fruit juice are popular and well as tortillas and different types of porridge or beans. One of my favorite breakfast foods, huevos rancheros, is more traditionally a mid-morning meal, not something you’d break your fast with.
European breakfasts come the closest to what many of us are used to. Breads with butter and jam, sweet pastries, sausages and cured meats, cheeses, and fruit juices abound. Eggs are not as prevalent but the varieties of bread products more than makes up for it. And, of course, there are infinite ways to get your caffeine fix; the Italians did invent the latte after all.
After all my research over the weekend, I woke up this morning thinking about coconut rice and spicy sauces but I had to get to my computer to write this article so I made due with leftovers. Oh well, maybe we’ll have breakfast for dinner tonight to make up for it.


Breakfast Bars
Even though this recipe has nothing to do with international breakfasts and is a totally Americanized idea of the meal, I made them this weekend and they are mighty tasty.
Adapted from Eating Well Magazine

1 c rolled oats
1/4 c chopped nuts (I used almonds)
¼ c wide chip unsweetened coconut
3 T mixed seeds (I used flax and black sesame seeds)
1 c puffed cereal (I used puffed millet
1 c chopped dried fruit (I used apricots and raisins)
¼ c creamy nut butter (I used peanut butter and tahini)
¼ c sugar
¼ c honey
½ t vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Coat a 8”x8” baking pan with cooking spray.
Mix oats, nuts, coconut and seeds together on a baking sheet. Toast in a 350F oven for 10 minutes or until lightly toasted, shaking pan occasionally. Transfer to a large bowl and add cereal and dried fruit.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the nut butter, sugar, honey, vanilla and salt. Stir frequently and heat until the mixture begins to bubble.
Pour hot mixture over grain mixture and stir with a spatula until well combined and no dry bits remain. This takes some doing and under no circumstance should you try and mix it with your hands. The stuff is really hot (I know this from experience). Pour mixture into prepared pan and press down to make an even layer. Allow to cool and firm up. Cut into 8 bars.

The finished Breakfast Bars.
They taste way better than this picture makes them look.