Sea salt

Sea salt, obtained by the evaporation of seawater, is used in cooking and cosmetics. Historically called bay salt or solar salt, its mineral content gives it a different taste from table salt, which is pure sodium chloride, usually refined from mined rock salt (halite) or from sea salt. Areas that produce specialized sea salt include the Cayman Islands, Greece, France, Ireland, South Korea, Colombia, Sicily, Apulia in Italy, Maldon in Essex UK, and Hawaii, Maine, Utah, the San Francisco Bay, and Cape Cod in the United States. Generally more expensive than table salt, it is commonly used in gourmet cooking and specialty potato chips, particularly the kettle cooked variety.

Gourmets often believe sea salt to be better than ordinary table salt in taste and texture, though one cannot always taste the difference when dissolved. In applications where sea salt's coarser texture is retained, it can provide different mouthfeel and changes in flavor due to its different rate of dissolution. The mineral content also affects the taste. It may be difficult to distinguish sea salt from other untreated salts, such as pink Himalayan salt, or grey colored rock salt. Sea salt is purified less than the high mineral pink salt.

Because sea salt generally lacks high concentrations of iodine, an element essential for human health, it is not necessarily a healthful substitute for regular iodized table salt, which is usually supplemented with the element, unless another source of dietary iodine is available (such as dairy products or regular processed foods). Iodized forms of sea salt are now marketed to address this concern.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/

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Greek Gourmet Traveller

The thirteenth issue of the Greek Gourmet Traveler has recently been released, offering readers a wealth of information on Greek gastronomy.

The issue covers foods and wines which have been part of the Greek cuisine for centuries, as well as many of the relatively new entries.

Nutritionists and scientists write about the great nutritional value of the Mediterranean diet, explaining the beneficial effects of eating Greek.  

Source: http://www.minpress.gr  -  http://www.greeknewsagenda.gr

HELLENIC REPUBLIC Secretariat General of Communication – Secretariat General of Information