I have to confess that I have not been aware of how many different flavors of gourmet salts existed prior to the offer from San Francisco Salt Company to review some of their gourmet salts. I was intrigued and agreed to review several samples. I received 5 samples and I was amazed by the variety of beautiful colors of these salts.
I decided that the best way to review them is to compare the five salt samples in appearance and flavor. I invited a friend to help me sample the salts, so we can both agree if we could tell the difference between different salts. They definitely looked different... but do they taste different? Here are the results of of our taste comparison. I am also attaching a video that I shot during our taste comparison, the numbers I am using below match the numbers in the video.
#1 Black Hawaiian Lava salt - smokey black in color,we thought it had the lightest (least salty) salt flavor of the 5 samples. This salt is harvested from pacific waters using traditional methods of solar evaporation, allowing the salt crystals to form with the much desired trace minerals intact. The salt obtains its coloring from activated coconut shell charcoal. San Francisco Salt Chef recommends it for use with desserts, and I can see why: it has a light salty flavor so it would work well for example with chocolates sprinkled with salt as I see in gourmet chocolate shops.
#2 Smoked Cherrywood Salt - rich brown in color. This salt has the strongest flavor, it was definitely very smokey. It is slightly saltier than Hawaiian, but not as salty as the other three salts that I tasted. Smoked Cherrywood Sea Salt is made with pure sea salt that has been slowly smoked above a Maine Cherrywood fire. The result is a smooth salty smokey flavor. San Francisco Salt Chef recommends recommends it for meat, poultry, and fish.
#3 Himalayan Salt - pretty pink in color and quite salty. The color does not add any flavor, just looks pretty. It could be use for any culinary use, but because it is so pretty I think using it as table salt in a shaker is how I plan to use it.
#4 Alaea Hawaiian Red Sea Salt - rich brick color, quite salty. This salt is harvested from pacific waters using traditional methods of solar evaporation, allowing the salt crystals to form with the much desired trace minerals intact. The salt is infused with Hawaiian volcanic clay called “alae", which gives it an extraordinary red color. The alae clay also adds nutritional value by providing a source of digestible dietary iron and other trace minerals. The color does not add any flavor, so it could work in any culinary use, but because the color is dramatic I think it would work best when you need to sprinkle it on something. It is widely used in Hawaii as a key seasoning for many of their native dishes including the kalua pig, poke, and Hawaiian jerky. This salt also goes well with pasta, stir-fry, poultry, eggs, seafood and grilled vegetables. It’s also used commonly for preserving.
#5 French Grey Salt - light grey color, the saltiest of the 5 salts I have sampled. French Grey Salt is formed as the sea water flows into the Guerande Marshes, in France, during high tides. The salt obtains its natural grey coloring from the salt crystallizing on clay. San Francisco Salt Company's French Grey Salt is 100% natural and carries the ‘Nature & Progrès’ certification label from France. It suits any culinary use. It is commonly used by French chefs... and who can argue with their results?
All San Francisco Salt Company salts are Kosher certified. Each of the salts is available in either coarse or fine grain. Each salt flavor came in a sealed sturdy plastic bags. The salts have a 10 year shelf live when they remained sealed in the original packaging. Once you open the package, each one has a zip lock closure so you can reseal the bag. These salts are top quality products.
Foind Hawaiian Black Lava Finishing Salt on Amazon
Find Sherpa Pink Gourmet salt on Amazon
Find Cherrywood Smoked Sea Salton Amazon
You can find Alaea Hawaiian Salt on Amazon by following this link
Find French Grey Sea Salt on Amazon
Ali Julia review ★★★★★
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