Fleur de Sel and Maldon Salt

Life without salt would be impossible and cooking without salt would be seriously sad! I love salt, but no salt is equal. My favorite salt is Maldon Salt as well as Fleur de Sel. It has just the right saltiness for my cooking. But I use it at the end, as it’s an expensive finishing salt…. for everyday cooking I use Kosher salt or Baleine Sea Salt and for adding lots to pasta water or blanching water, I use Sel Gris.  Each salt has it’s purpose. Adding Maldon or Fleur de Sel can transform a dessert into a desirable treat or it can bring out a simple garden tomato to a new level… 

I’ve always been obsessed with salt. When living in California, I started my own salt company, I never brought it anywhere as we moved and my “Sel de Cali,” was too hard to bring with me. I would infuse salt with all sorts of things like Myer lemons, Cabernet, Rose, Chardonnay, Rosemary, Basil, anything that was from California, including the salt. This was also about 10-years ago, just before infused salt where a big rave here in the US. I still infuse some of my salts, but right now I’m trying to finish up my salts that I bought in Sicily last summer. I have fennel infused, caper infused, pepperoncini infused and Sicilian Lemon as well as Orange infused Fleur de Sel from Italy. Adding it to salads, veggies, meat, fish… oh the list goes on, it just makes food pop!  

I know part of Maldon Salt’s appeal are the large flakes however, I still put mine in my Sur La Table Rachet mill to get a finer grind. By the way, you will not use any other mill after you try Sur La Table’s rachet mill!!!! Another one of my favorites!  

I love salt so much that I’m dying to go to this Japanese store in Tokyo where I can try over 300 different kinds of salt! I never knew about it when I lived there…. it’s on my bucket list for our next visit to Tokyo. Check out the store here.