Salt of the Earth

I grew up thinking all salt was created equal and came out of a blue box with a little girl on the label. When I got a little older I discovered kosher salt and the added dimension it can lend to cooking. In the last couple of years I have been introduced to sea salt, smoked salt, Himalayan pink salt, and a variety of others. Salts take up whole shelves in the grocery store now and have as many pedigreed names as artisinal processed tea.

I haven't needed to replenish my salt supply since visiting Paris two years ago (one nice thing about salt is that a little goes a long way). But as I came to the bottom of my stash I searched for something comparable to the fine fleur de sel I had gotten in France. Like many luxuries, once you've tasted the "real deal" there's no going back, and plenty of imitators want to fit the bill.

It was my good fortune to wander into the Old Spice Traders outside of Tampa where they sell no fewer than 23 different kinds of salt. The Applewood Smoked Sea Salt smells as if you've gotten caught in a campfire. It is great for adding a dimension to vegetable dishes for people who don't eat bacon.