Almost every savory recipe you read, no matter the cuisine, will always contain two things: salt and pepper – the essential seasonings. These two rather humble ingredients play a very important part in the final flavor of a dish. But have you ever thought about what kind of salt or pepper you should be using?
The standard package of salt bought in grocery stores in North America is ground from mined salt and has a small amount of iodine mixed in (iodine is added because it essential to the human diet to prevents goiters). Most of us cook with this without any real thought. However, if you go to the spice section of a good grocery store you might be suprized to find a selection of salts available to you. Often you will find a pink colored salt mined in the Himalayan mountains of Asia. The color is cause by various minerals that are trapped in the salt crystal. These minerals give the salt a subtle but complex flavor that can really enhance food, especially roasted animal proteins.
You might also find Mediterranean sea salt on the same shelf. As the name suggests, this salt is obtained by evaporating actual sea water. As with the pink salt, it contains traces of other minerals which also lend it a more complex flavor to enhance your food. These days other salts from around the world are also beginning to show up. Each will have it’s own flavor profile. Try a few and find you favorite(s). Personally, I keep several kinds of salt in my kitchen and pick and choose which to use with which dish.
As for pepper, most of us buy this in small glass jars or tins filled with pre-ground black peppercorns. We use the same container for months or perhaps years depending on its size. All the while, essential oils of the pepper are continually evaporating off the grounds each time the jar is opened. By the time you reach the bottom of the jar, you probably have a fairly flavorless dust. You can do better than this.
The alternative is to use fresh whole peppercorns and grind them in a pepper grinder on demand (make sure your grinder is adjustable so you can get coarse to fine ground pepper). When the newly ground peppercorns land on your dish, all the flavors have just been released by the grinding process are available to flavor your food.
About 20 years ago, I was shopping in my local grocery store and wound up on the spice aisle looking for a jar of peppercorns. As I was reaching for the jar of black peppercorns, I noticed a jar next to it labeled “Five Peppercorn Blend”. It contained a mix of peppercorns that were variously black, white, pink, green, and red. I decided to give this a try. I took it home, loaded the grinder, and ground a little bit onto a plate. Then I took a whiff and I was instantly a convert. Each color of peppercorn had a unique scent and the symphony of all them was wonderful. Better yet, when I put it in a favorite dish for the first time, I could taste a better flavor in the finished product. I never went back to black peppercorns and, over the years, I have converted many family and friends to use this mix, too.
Several spice companies make different variants of a peppercorn blends. You might want to try several to find your own favorite. McCormick, Penzeys, and Spice Island all sell peppercorn blends and I am sure there are others – though the exact number of peppercorn types in a mix may vary by brand.
So, as a starting point, rethink the salt and pepper you cook with. This is a first step you can take towards producing exceptional food. These two humble ingredients can lay down the foundation of a great dish.
Food Spice Life! 