Zalts tsu Tem (Salt to Taste)

In Leviticus 2:13 it is written,  "You shall season your every offering of meal with salt; you shall not omit from your meal offering the salt of your covenant with God; with all your offerings you must offer salt". Salt is the most common seasoning in Jewish Cuisines, especially Ashkenazi.

It’s sprinkled on challah during Shabbat to remind of a covenant with God; when diluted in water, it stands in for the tears of slaves at the Passover Seder; it's the heart of half sour pickles; and how could there be lox, corned beef, or pastrami without it. Unfortunately it also is partly responsible for high blood pressure and heart problems as well.

In Ancient Times it was a luxury and even used to pay Roman soldiers instead of money. Their "salarium" (sal is Latin for salt) became our modern day "salary". Interestingly, salt was abundant in ancient Israel and at one time Israel was the center of the salt trade.

As common as it is in cooking, people often make mistakes when using it. All salt is not created equal. Or is it? Chemically all salt is the same with one atom of Sodium (Na) and one atom of Chloride (Cl) resulting in it's formula, NaCl. Through nature and man, there are various adulterations containing minerals and other elements that change its color and taste. The important thing to remember is all salt is the same by weight (i.e., grams), but not by volume (i.e., teaspoon). The adulterating minerals and elements, while changing color and flavor,  make only a miniscule difference when considering weight. 

What this means is 1) always use a weight measurement, and 2) identify the type, and brand,  if possible, of the salt. Focusing on cooking there are three types of salt; coarse kosher style, flake kosher style, and fine table. Any of these can be Kosher if Kashruth rules are followed. 

Kosher style coarse salt, commonly referred to as kosher salt, was originally used to "kosher" food by absorbing the blood during the Koshering process and as a result is known as kosher salt. It's found in two types, coarse (usually by Morton) and flake (usually by Diamond Crystal). Both have Jewish roots. Gil Marks explains, “Certain companies started marketing to Jews, at first these were Jewish companies, including Rokeach and Manischewitz; later, non-Jewish companies, including Diamond and Morton, picked up on the trend."

Let's compare 1 teaspoon each of Diamond Crystal (DC), Morton Kosher (MK), and fine table salt. Guess what? They are not equal! DC’s flakes are large, so it takes fewer of them to fill a measuring spoon, and weighs 3 grams.  One teaspoon of coarse MK crystals weighs about 5 grams, and one teaspoon of fine table salt, usually iodized, weighs about 7 grams. The difference is big, both in taste and if you are on a sodium restricted diet (salt is 40 percent sodium by weight). 

Bottom line is 3 grams of coarse salt equals the same level of salinity as 3 grams of fine salt or 3 grams of flaky salt. If a recipe only lists volume measurements, do a little math if you want to substitute one brand of salt for another.  A good example is Pink Himalayan Salt, which is often claimed to have 50% of the sodium of "regular" salt. It does, by VOLUME, but not by weight. 

All of the above is why “salt to taste” is such an important instruction.  Salting to taste takes into account the most immeasurable of standards- varying degrees of personal taste. However you salt, remember – you can always add more, but you can’t take it back out!