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The Salt Wars Are Still On
By Sara Staysa
Paris, Ontario- based chef, writer and culinary tour guide
Sara Staysa owns and operates the
Underground Culinary Network. The UCN's next Culinary Journey is a gourmet's tour of the Caribbean. Click
here for more details.
Read Part I of Sara's Salt Series here.
The Salt Wars Are Still On
The spring of the year brings the salt season to the area where the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel and the North Sea converge. As in Brittany across the channel, the whole process also starts on the southeast coast of Britain in the Blackwater Estuary at Maldon. When both France (Gaul) and Britain were under rule by the Roman Empire, their rivalry as producers of the finest salt began. As the Romans were building their empire 2,500 years ago, salt was a paramount factor in their success. By the use of salt, the Romans paid their soldiers, bribed officials and kept themselves healthier than their enemies.
According to legend, Cassius Petrox, an arthritic Roman general, was posted at Maldon in Britain. At this site, Cassius took regular hot seawater baths and one day the water was allowed to boil too long and became too hot for him to bathe. While refusing entry, he noticed small white crystals in the bottom of tub and requested that they be removed for investigation. These crystals turned out to be sweet and delicious flakes of salt. This was the beginning of the ancient saltworks at Maldon.
It is believed that the current saltworks (Maldon Crystal Salt Company Ltd.) was built on the original ancient site. Its modest barnlike buildings surround a large smokestack that serves the furnaces. They produce the heat required to draw the light pyramid-shaped salt from the sea water. The water is brought into holding basins along the marshy flats to rest and strengthen. After a period of settling, the water is carefully drawn off into large stainless steel firing pans to begin an intricate and lengthy process of heating. Precise temperatures are maintained at each stage of development. Eventually, tiny hollow pyramids of salt appear on the surface of the water. As the crystals become heavier they sink to the bottom of the saltpan. The pans must cool overnight so that the harvesters can draw the salt off the next day. They use long wooden rakes to gather the salt into drainage pans that are then stored in drying rooms until the salt is ready to be packaged. When completely dry they are packaged into parchment-like sacks and placed in the distinctive white and green “Maldon Salt” boxes.
Maldon is the preferred finishing salt of the chefs of Britain and is showing up on the tables of discerning diners here in North America. Maldon is by no means inexpensive. However, given its history and the lengthy process for retrieving the delicate, sweet flakes from the seawater, it is worth every penny. The current owners have commissioned a book The Salt Maker of Maldon
by Gillian Soudah. The book outlines in great detail the process of manufacturing the salt and the James Rivers’ family history within the company.
The Empire Strikes Back
Because the Maldon crystals are so highly prized and seemingly impossible to duplicate, it was a challenge for ex-pats in the southern hemisphere to replicate Maldon for their own tables. However, one successful company is the New Zealand - Pacific Marlborough Flaky Sea Salt Co. They have discovered the waters of Cook Strait to be ideal for harvesting fine salt. Wishing to replicate the “Maldon Method” as closely as legally possible, they intake crystal water into the low basins of Marlborough Province at the tip of New Zealand's South Island. The sun and wind are allowed the time needed to work their magic in evaporating the water to the desired degree of salinity. The next step in production follows the ancient technique of open-pan evaporation by slowly heating the salt brine. The resulting crystals are allowed to drip dry before being air-dried at low temperatures. The resulting light-textured crystals resemble Maldon very closely but have a creamier colour and a slightly more intense saltiness. Some might say a “bite”.
Not be outdone, the Australians have also created a flake salt but with a few twists in the source and procedure. The source of these Australian salts is not from the ocean that surrounds their continent but from inland. The salts are a by-product of an environmental crisis in Hattah, Victoria Australia. The underground water in the area has a salt content twice that of sea water and is overwhelmingly unable to support agriculture within the area. Consequently in 1982, a group of engineers formed the Sun Salt Company and began to produce refined salts from the Murray River and Spectacle Salt Lake. The result was a group of industrial and commercial salts that eased the overpowering salinity of the underground water source. In 1986 they decided to take on the world of gourmet salts and developed a refinery process for drying the water through evaporation pans and produced a naturally coloured apricot flake salt known as Murray River Gourmet Salt Flakes. The chefs of Australia quickly embraced this salt as it was readily available and had many of the qualities of the famous Maldon. The Sun Salt Company is now in the international marketplace and challenging all competitors.
Salt Tasting
Impress your next dinner guests with a “pre-dinner salt tasting”. Next time you are cooking for friends whom you consider to be foodies, gather finishing salts from local gourmet shops and let your guests decide which salt that will grace the dining table that evening. You will need a small plate to hold half an apple, a knife for slicing the apple, a baton of good bread and a glass of water for each taster. The bread and water will cleanse their palates between each salt being tasted. Place the salts in small, labelled containers and have your guests cut a thin slice of apple and sprinkle it with the first salt. Discussion points for each tasting should rate the salinity of the sample, its sweetness, bite and creaminess. Hmm…sounding a bit like a wine tasting?? Remember to cleanse the palate after each salt. A happy by-product of the event is that you will have at least a half-year’s supply of finishing salts and the challenge of discerning which salt to place on the table with your meal. In reality there are over 190 sea salt sites vying for a place of honour on your table. So have fun and become a chef worth his/her salt.
Visit Sara's website at www.UndergroundCulinaryNetwork.com.
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