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[#1]

Funny thing about salt — it's one of those rare things in life that we enjoy an

abundance of, and now they're telling us to beware of it. Definitely not the respect it deserves! I think salt is getting a bad rap and needs a new PR agency. I love salt, and the thought of cooking and living without it is really hard to imagine.

The other day, as I was teaching my five year old, Max, how to cook eggs, I reminded him to always add a pinch of salt at the beginning and just another pinch at the end. He asked me, "Why?" "Hmmm," I thought, "well that question sounds very easy to answer." But is it? I told Max that salting food not only helps bring out the natural flavors, but also adds a bit of crunch when added at the end. I tried to explain that if we don’t salt, food tends to be bland and lifeless. I told him it's sort of like coloring in your book with only black and white crayons. He got that.

There are so many different types of salt that I have a difficult time picking which one I'll use for each task. For boiling water for pasta, I tend to grab my kosher salt. I like it because it's just coarse enough for me to see what I'm doing, but still dissolves quickly. I know you must've heard by now that salting the water for pasta is the only way to impart flavor into the pasta itself. Don’t worry, you really can’t over salt because the excess always ends up on the bottom of the pot. Good thing salt is still pretty cheap.

There are, however, varying thoughts on what salt actually does to the water. Many people think that salt in the water helps it boil faster. Well again, this is more complicated than it seems. When you add salt to the water, it actually boils the water more slowly! Okay, don’t freak out. Yes the water comes to a boil more slowly, but it causes the water’s boiling point to rise. Hotter water cooks the pasta faster and more efficiently. I personally like to cook my pasta as quickly as possible to get a perfect texture (al dente). Your reasons for salting the water don’t really matter. It just matters that you do indeed salt the water.

I feel like I could write a book about salt — a love story. Here's a little background on salt. As I mentioned earlier, there are many different types of salt, but what's the difference and why? Most chefs, including myself, use kosher salt. because it's a bit thicker than table salt and very pure. It's easy to handle with your fingers and spreads very nicely. Since it’s a bit larger than table salt, it’s easy to see where you put it and how much. On my table, however, I love to put out various types of salts in different containers, shakers, or grinders. I love to let people play around with different choices. I have beautiful pink salt from Hawaii, super-chunky black lava salt from India, and what some people feel is the crème de la crème of all salts, fleur de sel, with its mystic gray hue. I even have some mineral salt from the depths of ancient seas that's pink, black, and gray...amazing. A company called Saltistry produces fantastic varieties of flavored salts (such as tomato basil salt, lemon salt, etc.).

My passion for salt filters into many parts of my life. I love to make my own skin

care products with salt. I have extremely sensitive skin. I've tried a million

products for everything and probably spent a million dollars as well. When all this time, sitting right in front of me has been the answer. Yes, salt. I make my own sea salt hair spritz from a secret combination of salt, water, lemon, and aloe. Email me if you want the recipe. I also use my salts along with olive oil to make my own scrubs for face and body. For cleaning, I always wash my cutting boards with salt and lemon, which, by the way, is the best way to clean any copper or tarnished metals.

My wife chose me because she said I was like the “salt of the earth.” It’s a tall

order; I hope I live up to that.

-Eric