Salt: A Global Pantry

Salt is as familiar as water and the air we breathe, and it's just as essential to us.

- NAOMI DUGUID

Historically, people have depended on salt for preserving food so they had a supply to last them through lean times. Salt was an essential, sought-after commodity then and still is today. 

THE MIRACLE OF SALT (Artisan Books) celebrates salt's essential role in helping us make the best use of our food by preserving and enhancing it, so that it not only keeps well but also tastes delicious. From the puckery preserved lemons of the Middle East to the sweet-salty desserts of Brittany, discover culturally important condiments, dishes and drinks from around the world.

01 Corned Beef Hash

PENNSYLVANIA 

To make corned beef-also called salt beef or salt brisket the meat is soaked in a brine for 8 days, then gently boiled in water aromatic with spices for three to four hours, resulting in meltingly tender meat. Use it to make this classic breakfast dish found in Pennsylvania and New England. But it can be comfort food for any time of day. The name comes from the French hâcher, meaning to chop, because the beef and all the other ingredients are chopped small.

02 Acadian Salted Scallions

NOVA SCOTIA

Salted scallions oignons verts salées-are a staple of the Acadian pantry. Acadians have a distinctive culinary culture and their language is a distinctive version of French. In the Acadian kitchen, salted scallions are a taste of summer during the winter, and they can be used as an aromatic seasoning all year round.