What's Shakin'?/ Specialty salts are all the rage

WHITE TABLE SALT? How predictable.

If you really want to perk up your foods, try something unusual from the world of specialty salts: lingerie pink from Peru. Oyster gray from France. Rust red or jet black from Hawaii. Brown-sugar amber from Denmark. And many more. These specialty salts from around the globe are a culinary craze. Chefs, home cooks and foodies fork over as much as $36 per pound for designer sodium, even though an equivalent amount of table salt costs about $1. They contend that the flavor is superior and that the coarse-grain crunchiness adds an interesting texture to all manner of dishes: salads and sirloins, chicken breasts and chocolate pastries.

"Generally, specialty sea salts are unrefined and hand-harvested. Trace minerals as well as natural crystallization make them more flavorful and fun," says Rob Seideman, owner of the Cooking School of Aspen in Colorado and Salt Traders, a business that sells an international selection of salts.

"As a general rule, table salt contains no minerals. In the refining process, manufacturers make a brine, then extract minerals and vacuum dry (the salt). They add an anti-caking element that is acrid; it gives a bitter finish."

Seideman acknowledges that table salt's tiny, uniform crystals are often the better choice to use in baked goods. Small, consistent crystals distribute more evenly when baking such foods as biscuits and cakes.

To season foods that cook a long time, or water for cooking pasta or soups, kosher salt works fine, he says. Kosher salt is an additive free, coarse-grained salt that is generally mined, rather than hand- harvested from evaporated seawater.

Exotic sea salts are best used as a final flourish, he says. Sandra Cook, co-author of "Salt & Pepper" (Chronicle, $18.95), calls them "condiment salts."

"Condiment salts are used only as a garnish just before serving or eating, not in cooking, because of their special flavor and texture," says Cook. "They're also called 'finishing salts' and include salts such as fleur de sel, as well as salts that are colored with clay or lava, and blends of sea salt combined with herbs or other flavorings."

Chefs from coast to coast are using these salts as a final garnish.

Thomas Keller, chef-owner of the renowned French Laundry in California's Napa Valley, places an arrangement of colorful imported sea salts on each table for his customers to enjoy with their meat courses. In the kitchen, he puts swanky Maldon salt - a delicate, soft sea salt from Essex, England - on salmon. On supersweet tomatoes mounded on delicate stands of capelli pasta, he adds a just-right sprinkling of fleur de sel, an opaque white sea salt whose name means "flower of salt."

Award-winning New York pastry chef Claudia Fleming, author of "The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern" (Random House, $40), sprinkles a tiny bit of sea salt - generally fleur de sel - atop Chocolate Caramel Tarts just before serving. She says it makes the chocolate "pop" and rounds out the buttery sweetness of the caramel.

Fleming isn't the only pastry chef using salt this way; it's been a trend over the past couple of years among pastry chefs to sprinkle a few grains of coarse salt on desserts and baked goods, to create salty-sweet contrast.

Hawaii-based Roy Yamaguchi, founding chef-owner of 30 Roy's restaurants around the world, uses coarse Hawaiian sea salt as a last minute seasoning for steaks.

"You actually can bite into these salts," says Yamaguchi, whose latest cookbook, "Hawaii Cooks: Flavors From Roy's Pacific Rim Kitchen" (Ten Speed Press, $32.50), discusses Hawaiian-produced sea salts.

"Because the texture is different, there is a bite factor . . . it has a chewy, crunchy texture. In my kitchen, table salt is used for long cooked stews and braised dishes. Coarse, Hawaiian alae sea salt granules are great on Warm Fried Tofu Salad with Wilted Greens and Macadamia Nuts. Medium grains of Hawaiian sea salt are great on hearty meats.

"Plus, for me, these salts are like tasting the ocean."

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SALT-ROASTED POTATOES

Yield: 6 servings

2 pounds small Yukon gold or red potatoes, skins left on 2 lemons, sliced 1/2 inch thick 8 cloves garlic, peeled, but left whole 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons coarse gray sea salt, such as gros sel 5 sprigs fresh rosemary

Procedure:

1. Fifteen minutes before baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In large pot, combine potatoes, lemon slices and garlic with water to cover. Bring to boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium-low and cook until potatoes begin to soften, about 45-50 minutes. Drain and transfer potatoes, lemon slices and garlic to rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Toss to coat evenly. Add rosemary sprigs and toss.

3. Bake 35-40 minutes, shaking sheet once or twice to redistribute potatoes and seasonings, until potatoes are golden and tender. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition data per 4-ounce serving:

Calories 127 (25 percent from fat); 3.5 g fat (sat .5 g, mono 2.5 g, poly .3 g); protein 2 g; carbohydrates 23 g; fiber 1.86 g; cholesterol 0 mg; sodium 1,603 mg; calcium 11 mg.

Source: "Salt & Pepper," by Sandra Cook, Sara Slavin and Deborah Jones

PEANUT BRITTLE WITH COARSE SEA SALT Yield: About 1 1/2 pounds

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 cup water 3/4 cup light corn syrup 2 cups unsalted roasted peanuts 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 cup coarse sea salt, such as fleur de sel or Camargue

Procedure:

1. Butter baking sheet. In heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine sugar, water and corn syrup over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high; boil without stirring until candy thermometer reaches 260 degrees and syrup is light amber, 30-35 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low; add peanuts and 1 tablespoon butter. Cook, stirring constantly, until thermometer reaches 295 degrees, about 15 minutes.

2. Add vanilla, stir well, remove from heat and pour onto prepared baking sheet. Spread mixture into thin sheet with back of buttered spoon or spatula. Sprinkle evenly with coarse salt while still warm.

3. Cool, then break into serving pieces. Store between sheets of waxed paper in airtight container at room temperature.

Nutrition data per 1-ounce serving:

Calories 154 (40 percent from fat); 6.8 g fat (sat 1.3 g, mono 3.4 g, poly 1.9 g); protein 3 g; carbohydrates 22 g; fiber 1.09 g; cholesterol 2 mg; sodium 1,078 mg; calcium 12 mg.

Source: "Salt & Pepper," by Sandra Cook, Sara Slavin and Deborah Jones

SALT-ROASTED SALMON

Yield: 2 servings

2 cups kosher salt 2 (7-ounce) salmon fillets, with skin Smoked salt, such as Danish smoked salt, to taste Fresh lime juice, to taste

Procedure:

1. Pour kosher salt into heavy-bottomed skillet large enough to hold salmon in single layer. Heat over medium heat until hot, about 5 minutes. Place fillets in salt, skin down. Cover and cook 12-14 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit 2-4 minutes.

2. Remove cover and test salmon for doneness. Salmon should be opaque throughout and firm to touch. Carefully slip thin spatula between skin of 1 fillet and flesh. Lift salmon from skillet and place on plate. Repeat with second fillet. Finish each with a sprinkle of smoked salt and a squeeze of lime juice.

Nutrition data per fillet:

Calories 410 (54 percent from fat); 24.5 g fat (sat 5 g, mono 8.8 g, poly 8.8 g); protein 44 g; carbohydrates .5 g; fiber .02 g; cholesterol 125 mg; sodium 515 mg; calcium 1 mg.

Source: "Salt & Pepper," by Sandra Cook, Sara Slavin and Deborah Jones

WHERE TO BUY SPECIALTY SALTS

Salt Traders: www.salttraders.com

Baker's Catalogue: www.bakerscatalogue.com

Chef Shop: www.chefshop.com

Sur La Table: www.surlatable.com

Williams-Sonoma: www.williams-sonoma.com

Dean & Deluca: www.deandeluca.com

Hawaii Kai Salts: 1-808-553-3461

Sources: "Salt & Pepper" by Sandra Cook, Sara Slavin and Deborah Jones (Chronicle, $18.95); Rob Seideman, Salt Traders, www.salttraders.com

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