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Salts Worth Their Salt

Why settle for ordinary iodized when there are distinctive varieties of salt brilliantly suited to different dishes?

Clockwise from top: Maldon Sea Salt, Fleur de Sel de Camargue, Japanese Seaweed Salt, Jacobsen Salt Co. Flake Salt and Himalayan Pink Salt ENLARGE
Clockwise from top: Maldon Sea Salt, Fleur de Sel de Camargue, Japanese Seaweed Salt, Jacobsen Salt Co. Flake Salt and Himalayan Pink Salt F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal

SALT IS AT once so ubiquitous and so rarefied that it's often hard to tell when to use which kind, and why. Most of the salt you see—in restaurant shakers, in the supermarket aisle—is industrially produced table salt, which is refined and often contains iodine and anti-caking agents. It's cheap and plentiful. But humans have been extracting salt from the earth and sea since the beginning of time, and naturally occurring salts, collected from underground salt deposits or evaporated from ocean water, come in a grand variety of shapes and colors.

Unlike industrial salt, unprocessed rock and sea salts contain a range of different trace minerals, the combination of which in any given salt depends on where and how it's harvested. This makes for varied, subtle, complex flavors that are strongly tied to place. In recent years, thanks to a resurgence in artisanal methods of salt production all around the world, an ever wider array of salts has become readily available.

Generally speaking, a salt expresses its unique qualities most emphatically when you use little during cooking and wait to do most of the seasoning at the end; hence the term "finishing salt." The finishing salts featured here have distinctive characteristics that suit them for different purposes. Fleur de sel's high moisture content, for example, makes it ideal for hot foods, since it doesn't dissolve as quickly as a drier salt. Flake salt is often made from seawater that has been filtered of bitter-tasting calcium and magnesium; it's a clean finishing salt that adds texture and brightness to a dish.

Fleur de Sel de Camargue ENLARGE
Fleur de Sel de Camargue F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal

FLEUR DE SEL | Fleur de Sel de Camargue

A moist salt with small, irregular crystals, fleur de sel is traditionally hand-raked from evaporating salt beds just a few months of the year. This particular "flower of salt," harvested in the south of France, is a bit drier and finer than most fleur de sels, with a subtle flavor that works well with just about everything. Since the ocean water it comes from is unfiltered, Camargue fleur de sel has a lovely, complex minerality and a slight grayish tint. Use it to finish grilled fish, meat and eggs—it will hold its integrity on hot food—or toss with salads and vegetables. $9 for 4.4 ounces,

Jacobsen Salt Co. Flake Salt ENLARGE
Jacobsen Salt Co. Flake Salt F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal

FLAKE SALT | Jacobsen Salt Co. Flake Salt

Extracted from filtered Netarts Bay seawater off Oregon's northwest coast—not far from where Lewis and Clark evaporated salt in brass kettles during their 19th-century expedition—this finishing salt has a bright, clean flavor, and its large flakes have a pleasing crunch. Because of the size of the flakes, the salt packs a lot of flavor and does well when sprinkled on salads, vegetables and baked goods. Top chefs agree: Jacobsen flake salt is a favorite of Thomas Keller, Chris Cosentino and April Bloomfield. $13 for 4 ounces,

Himalayan Pink Salt ENLARGE
Himalayan Pink Salt F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal

ROCK SALT | Himalayan Pink Salt

This rock salt is hand-mined in the Punjab region of Pakistan, from salt caves formed when oceans retreated hundreds of millions of years ago. The coarse crystals are high in naturally occurring trace minerals, including iron, magnesium, potassium, calcium and zinc; their glorious pink-to-red hue is due to iron oxide. The salt has a lingering flavor that comes through in cooking but doesn't overpower, making it a versatile option for all kinds of dishes. It can add excitement at the table, too—put it out in a clear grinder and use it to finish dishes with a dash of gorgeous color. $4 for 1 ounce,

Maldon Smoked Salt ENLARGE
Maldon Smoked Salt F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal

SMOKED SALT | Maldon Smoked Salt

Known for the pyramid-shaped flakes it produces, family-owned Maldon Salt Company has been harvesting sea salt on England's Essex coast for four generations. The salt has long had a place in the royal household (a few years ago, Queen Elizabeth II paid a visit to Maldon headquarters to see for herself how the product is made). This variety, cold-smoked using oak and other hardwoods, has an earthy flavor that builds slowly on the tongue. The big, robust flakes give extra oomph to meat, chicken and fish as a finishing salt, and a lightly barbecued quality when used in preparing sauces, soups and marinades. $8 for 4.4 ounces,

Japanese Seaweed Salt ENLARGE
Japanese Seaweed Salt F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal

FLAVORED SALT | Japanese Seaweed Salt

You can infuse or blend salts with all kinds of ingredients—citrus, herbs, spices, coffee, truffles—to make flavored salt. One standout is this traditional Japanese seaweed salt, amabito no moshio, which has fine, flowing crystals and a complex, oceanic flavor—the result of Hon'dawara seaweed steeping in the seawater as it evaporates. After it's harvested, the labor-intensive salt is stirred over an open fire with a wooden paddle to make the tiny crystals as dry as possible. The seaweed adds a sandy color and lends any food—pasta, fish, cheese, even desserts—a savory, umami depth. $20 for 1.7 ounces,


Love salt, but hardly a gourmand. That's an attractive assortment of salts that would hardly be readily available, and pricey to boot. Most people rather spend money on food as opposed to condiments.

At least that's how we see it in the Bronx (yo).

Gary J. Rhine
Gary J. Rhine subscriber

There is not much that is worse for you. Beyond tiny amounts it constricts the arteries and raise blood pressure.

VICK NELSON subscriber

I have used the Jacobsen and Maldon salts for several years and my family loves them. We actually keep one salt box near the stove and another on our dining table each with a different salt. Then pink himalayan in our salt grinder. We all have our favorites.

Brian Hess
Brian Hess subscriber

Hate to tell you but there is a difference in flavors.

Chris Petruzzi
Chris Petruzzi subscriber

The quintessence of American marketing is to take a product which is indistinguishable from its competitors and make it desired. This began a couple decades ago with water. With salt, it is taken to a new level.

Geraldo Bustone
Geraldo Bustone user

Sodium Chloride is Sodium Chloride. Why spend a fortune on the most abundant stuff on earth? Buy either fine or coarse and be done with it.

Thomas Bates
Thomas Bates subscriber

A couple of comments about the article and one of the comments above.

First, the author made the comment: "Generally speaking, a salt expresses its unique qualities most emphatically when you use little during cooking and wait to do most of the seasoning at the end; hence the term "finishing salt."" This is a little bit backwards. There are cooking salts and finishing salts. People who know how to cook, season throughout the cooking process to let the salt enhance the flavor of the food. Aside from fried foods which are properly salted immediately after being pulled from the oil, salting after the food is cooked will make it taste salty. Finishing salts are used sparingly and almost as a garnish.

To Mr. Rhine above, contrary to popular myth, a person with normal kidney function will filter away any unneeded salt during digestion. There is nothing in the medical information I've studied that indicates an excess use of salt is a root cause or will bring about high blood pressure or artery constriction. Those are secondary systems caused not by the salt per se, but a separate pre existing condition. Also, recent studies have shown that people with high blood pressure may be able to reduce the blood pressure by limiting salt, but this does nothing to repair the root cause or extend the life of the patient beyond those who don't limit salt. First Source that comes up on Google:


Don't give up entirely on table salt. It has iodine added which is essential for your thyroid. Otherwise you will have to take a supplement to supply your daily requirement.

Brian Hess
Brian Hess subscriber

I have the Jacobsen too along with a French sea salt that I love and a Himalayan pink.

Geraldo Bustone
Geraldo Bustone user

I'm sure if I paid a ton of money for special NaCl, I'd detect a difference in flavor.

Gerald Hanner
Gerald Hanner subscriber

My impaired sense of smell, and therefore taste, detects none of it.

Geraldo Bustone
Geraldo Bustone user

One member of our extended family is hell bent on drinking 'ph' water. She can't seem to grasp that the body adjusts ph balance on it's own. She could add lemon or a pinch of sodium bicarb to adjust but would rather spend $3.00 on a bottle of special water. I never cease to be amazed at people who drink bottled water at $1.00 per.

Craig Shields
Craig Shields subscriber

Yes and no. What gives these salts flavor is the impurities present.

Is it worth it? I really can't taste a difference.

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