Slabs of ancient salt flavor new trend in serving and cookware

By Nancy Stohs

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

(MCT)

MILWAUKEE — It’s a bold new concept in cooking. Instead of salting your food — you “food” your salt.

Serving sushi? Leave the soy sauce in the fridge; set the rolls on a frozen salt stick and let them soak up the goodness.

Sizzle your next fried egg directly on a block of salt heated on your stovetop — no skillet (or salt shaker) needed.

Hand-mined from the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains in northern Pakistan, cut into smooth-as-glass blocks or molded into striking reusable salt bowls or other shapes, the primordial ocean salt that makes all of this possible shimmers like pink marble.

Beautiful in looks alone, it’s the newest sensation in chefdom and home kitchens. In more ways than one, it is far from just another variety of sodium chloride.

You can cook directly on this salt, just as you would in a skillet. There seems to be no end to the creative applications of this 500 million-year-old mineral. (Yes, 500 million years.)

Himalayan salt had been popular in Europe as a New Age wellness therapy product for about 10 or 15 years before POSH Salt owner Laura E. Castelli, a New York lawyer, stumbled upon it, quite by accident.

Having acquired a couple of small pieces from a young businessman seeking endorsements for other food products from her chef-clients, Castelli forgot about them until she was at a chefs’ awards banquet. Reaching into her pocket for a pen, she pulled out one of the pieces.

The chef seated next to her asked, “What’s that?” and before long it was the buzz of the table. Suddenly she had chefs across the city demanding she get them this salt.

Striking out with the original source of the salt, eventually she was introduced to their now-partner, a Pakistani who had rights to mine the government-controlled salt.

The original shipment — 48,000 pounds — arrived in the dead of winter 2004. With nowhere else to store it, she and her husband, Jerry Petrozelli, cleaned out their one-car garage and filled it with the heavy blocks.

That’s how they discovered the salt would become “cold as ice” — and stay cold for hours. Exploring the other extreme, Castelli also found it could be heated (up to at least 900 degrees) and cooked upon, imparting a subtle salty flavor in the process.

The cooking and chilling, the curing, the presentation possibilities, the “Saltware” concept — all of this came out of their kitchen and a makeshift production studio they set up in their basement. “The more we played with it, the more different uses we found for it,” Castelli said.

Now, the warehousing, packaging and “salt-crafting” have headquarters in a large facility in New Bergen, N.J. The couple (her mother, Julia Fracica, is a third partner) also have three smaller warehouses in the area — and clients all over the country. Their products, mostly culinary but also some spa items, are available at www.poshsalt.com.

TEMPTING THE TONGUE

Rule No. 1: Go ahead, lick it.

“Everyone who sees this wants to lick it,” said personal chef Alisa Malavenda, picking up a small salt disc.

Once you’ve got that out of your system, get in the kitchen and have some fun. There are many ways to use Himalayan pink salt. Here are just a few:

— The moister the food, the more salt it absorbs, and the more quickly. For extra-moist foods, once the desired salt level has been reached, you can still serve on the salt pieces by creating a barrier between the food and the block — lemon leaves, soy papers or, for heated salt blocks, cedar papers (in this case, the food will pick up both salty and smoky flavors).

— Use a large salt bowl to toss a fresh fruit salad for a bit of salty flavor before transferring to another bowl for serving.

— Roast Cornish hens: Heat a large salt block in a low oven, working up to 350 degrees. Remove the backbone from the hens and flatten the birds. Lay them skin side up on the hot salt block and bake until done (time depends on the size). The skin will be crispy and the flesh will have a “nice mineral kind of flavor,” Malavenda says.

— Serve cold soup in chilled salt bowls; just remember to use less salt in the recipe.

— For a simple dessert with flair, scoop three flavors of sorbet on a frozen sushi stick and serve.

— Thinly slice flank steak and sear it on a hot salt block about a minute on each side.

— Grind pesto by hand in a Himalayan-salt mortar and pestle.

SALT BLOCK CHOCOLATE ‘FONDUE’

1 pound dark chocolate

Cut-up fruit, pieces of your favorite cake and other dippers

1 Himalayan salt block (at least 8 by 8 by 2 inches; larger is easier)

Skewers or fondue forks

Heat Himalayan salt block slowly on the gas range over very low heat. (You can use an electric range, but be sure to use a metal wok ring as a spacer to keep the salt ¼ to ½ inch above the surface of the electric coil.) This should take about 10 to 15 minutes.

When the salt block is warm, you can test to see if it is the right temperature by placing a small piece of chocolate in the middle of the block. If the chocolate starts to melt slowly, it is the right temperature. If it smokes, you need to reduce the heat and wait a bit for the salt to cool down.

Add half the chocolate and, when it starts to melt, use your spatula and move the chocolate around to temper it. When the chocolate is melted, add remaining chocolate and continue to work it with your spatula.

When it is completely melted, bring it to the table and set on a trivet. Be sure to warn your guests not to touch the block. Dig into the chocolaty goodness with fruit (see note), cake pieces or anything else you’d like to (marshmallows, pretzels, croissant pieces, etc.).

Note: To prevent the moist fruit pieces from causing the chocolate to seize up, furnish butter knives or cheese spreaders so guests can spread chocolate from the salt slab onto the fruit.

SALMON GRAVLAX ON A SALT BLOCK

¼ cup packed brown sugar

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon dried mustard

2 same-size Himalayan salt slabs

1 piece of fresh salmon that will fit the slab

Sprigs of fresh dill to cover salmon

Garnish of creme fraiche and toast points or crackers

In small bowl, mix the sugar, pepper and mustard and set aside. Remove pin bones and skin from fish (or ask your fishmonger to do this for you).

Rub fish with sugar, pepper and mustard mixture. Sprinkle with the dill and place fish on one salt slab. Top with second salt slab and place on a plate (there with be some juice that will leak out). Place the plate with the salt slabs and fish in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days (no more or it will become too salty).

Rinse fish well under cool water and pat dry.

Thinly slice the gravlax and serve with creme fraiche and toast points or crackers, and garnish of your choice.

FLAMING BANANAS ON A HIMALAYAN SALT BLOCK

Makes 2 servings

1 (8-inch-square or larger) Himalayan salt block and 2 small salt discs

2 bananas

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

A good ‘douse’ of Grand Marnier or rum

Kitchen blow torch, long match or fire starter

Vanilla ice cream or custard

Butter

Place the smaller salt blocks in the freezer a couple of hours, until “ice-cold.”

Heat larger salt block gradually on the stovetop, starting on low and cranking up the flame a notch every 10 minutes until it is on high heat. This usually takes about 30 minutes.

When the stone is ready, slice the bananas and have all your other ingredients ready. Place a pat of unsalted butter in the middle of the salt block and then add the bananas, tossing a bit with a spatula. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top. Shut off the heat — this is an important step — then douse with the alcohol of your choice and carefully ignite with blow torch, match or fire starter.

Divide the bananas between 2 serving plates. Set a frozen salt disc on each plate next to the bananas and add a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream or custard. Serve immediately.

Note: For a special taste treat, mix 2 parts vanilla ice cream with 1 part mascarpone cheese in a Himalayan salt bowl before scooping out servings.

ABOUT THE SALT

Himalayan salt products can be purchased directly from www.poshsalt.com.

“Cooking-grade” blocks are a minimum of 1 ½ inches thick.

The salt pieces are not non-stick, so a little butter or oil will be needed when using them to fry, sear or bake. This also prevents too much salt from being absorbed. It is normal to hear little popping sounds as the blocks are heating.

Heat the blocks slowly, starting them in the oven or gradually increasing the heat of the burner underneath. If you heat them too quickly, there is the possibility they will crack.

The salt can be heated up to 900 degrees, and it will freeze to 0 degrees. The blocks stay hot or cold for hours.

Naturally antimicrobial, the pieces can be used again and again. To wash, simply wipe clean with warm water and dry thoroughly. Do not use soap, and never put in the dishwasher. Let dry 24 hours before using again.

Each time a piece is washed, an oh-so-tiny layer is removed. But cared for properly, the pieces should last for years. Store dry pieces wrapped in plastic to keep out moisture.