Types of Salt

There are many types of salt available, but we can classify them in two major categories: natural and artificial salts.
Our planet Earth was very generous with this resource and we can find it in abundance either in the sea water or underground. However, humans like to be very productive and create artificial versions of almost everything existing in nature. There are even voices who try to convince us that there is no difference between real and artificial. But, I invite you to read my page on sea salt vs. table salt and form your own opinion.

Cooking Types of Salt – What’s the difference?

Sea Salt

This type of salt is obtained by the solar evaporation of the sea water, and is one of the most popular type of salt used for cooking as well as for bathing. Water and salt is an essential combination for life. –

Oceans are a huge source of salt, but unfortunately they’ve been polluted to a dangerous degree. However, there are places where sea salt is harvested from protected areas, free of pollution.

Celtic Sea Salt

One of the best types of sea salt is the Celtic Salt . This brand generally indicates a good quality product, coming from pollution free sea water lacunae.

Celtic Sea Salt can come from different salt farms, like the coastal regions of: France, Portugal, Italy, and also the Americas: Hawaii, Peru, California.

These salts are hand harvested and when unprocessed have a gray color and are moist (unless they are sun-dried).

Their particular composition varies from the region to region, but they all contain the minerals and trace elements of the sea, which are essential for our body, giving them all the health benefits.

I prefer the gray coarse ground salt for cooking – it’s literally gray and moist, not very nice looking, but it adds a fantastic good taste to meals.

*Once I recommended it to a local Mediterranean restaurant – they tried it and seemed to really like it, because next time I was there, I saw in their menu: “We Cook with Celtic Salt” – I was happy for them 🙂

Rock Salt

The so called “rock salt” comes from underground mines and there are plenty of them over the world.

This type of salt is very old and it comes from the depth of the ground. That’s why it has a beautiful crystalline structure. The rock salt has more health benefits than its sister coming from the sea, due to the higher content in minerals and also the accumulated earth energy.

Himalayan Salt

One of the most popular types of salt these days is the so called “Himalayan Salt”. According to Wikipedia, Himalayan salt is the name given to the rock salt harvested in Pakistan, not far from the Himalayan mountains.

Apparently, this superior structure gives to the Himalayan Salt a higher level of latent energy, which we get when we bathe in, or cook with.

The Himalayan salt is reddish or pink in color. You can buy it as stones, blocks, coarse grains, or fine granulated. The salt comes in different kind of containers, depending on the company that sells them.

Gourmet Salt

There are many natural salts around the world, which have been hand harvested from unpolluted salt farms. Some have added natural flavors, and they are considered to be a Chef’s favorite for gourmet meals.

One that I find very exciting is Black Lava Salt from Hawaii. It is a blend of sea salt and purified volcanic charcoal. This salt is evaporated in natural pools formed by the lava.

Whether coming from the sea or underground the salt has many benefits for our health and it can be used either for cooking or bathing.

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Tatiana