hey hey, good looking
In the theme of Valentine’s Day, I had to write a post about my true love in cooking: kosher salt. Most specifically, Diamond Crystal kosher salt. I was first exposed to kosher salt in 2015 when I purchased Christina Tosi’s Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook, which changed my life in terms of how I approach seasoning in baking and subsequently cooking.
All salts are not created equal and they all affect the flavour of your food in different ways. People tend to shy away from using salt in their cooking for fear of it tasting “too salty” but learning how to use it properly will truly change how your food tastes. Many of us grew up with iodized table salt, which is likely why we associate salt with a “salty”, metallic taste. PLEASE THROW OUT YOUR TABLE SALT. Marie Kondo it from your life. It cannot and will not spark joy, it will only spark metallic tasting food. Replace it with kosher salt and joy will be everywhere.
Why kosher salt?
The size of the Diamond Crystal kosher salt allows it to dissolve quickly into the surface of your food, which makes it easy to taste and adjust as you go without worrying about oversalting. Fine sea salt is also a good option for everyday cooking but I find it doesn’t dissolve as evenly and therefore leads to more “salty” bites.
Practice Makes Perfect
Practice seasoning your food using the best tool in the kitchen available to you - your hands. I always season food by picking up with salt between my fingers, rather than using a measuring spoon. Over time I have perfected my “pinch” with my left hand (non-dominant hand) – I can now consistently pinch 1/16 of a tsp every time. Repeatedly pinch up salt until you learn the feeling of this measurement. I practiced by pinching and dropping into a ¼ tsp measure until I consistently pinched 4 times to get the ¼ tsp.
Want to learn more about salt?
I highly recommend picking up Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat from your local library or purchasing it for keepsies. Nosrat spends a whole chapter deep diving on salt and it is a resource I reference often in the kitchen.
Where to buy Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt:
Your local bulk store – in Toronto I have found it on the shelf at Bulk Heaven and Domino Foods in St. Lawrence Market
Rumor has it the Italian Market on Young in Halifax sells it
Leave a comment of where you have found Diamond Cystal kosher salt in your city!