Salt

Salt can be a very contentious and sometimes confusing subject.

Free Running Salt – is very finely granulated and because of this contains a chemical to prevent it from getting damp and coagulating, which would stop it from running freely.  What additives do is make the salt sharper, but at the same time its saltiness is slightly diminished.

The other type of salt is pure sea salt flakes with nothing added. And when you use this pure salt it’s also marginally saltier, which means you need slightly less of it.

On the dining table it can be served as it is, and you can use your fingers to crush it. Or, best of all, a really good salt mill like the Delia Online Salt Mill,  which has our own Cookery School stamp of approval. It's called Crushgrind, and it does exactly that. You can adjust the coarseness by twisting the mechanism underneath.

In the kitchen sometimes the flakes are used just as they are. Or a pestle and mortar can be used for crushing pure sea salt flakes really finely.

Now we’re being advised to eat less salt, up to 6g per adult, per day, so the important point is when you are cooking at home you know precisely what amount of salt you are using.

The danger is the hidden salt in processed foods, because they use extra salt to give longer shelf life.

To find out more about hidden salt - visit the CASH website:  actiononsalt.org.uk