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- Food Immersion - Portland: From Hyper-Local to MainstreamFor a clear example of America’s evolving food culture, look no further than The Meadow. You’ll find a wide selection within its four narrow categories: salt, chocolate, specialty liquor and flowers. The Meadow stocks over 100 varieties of salt, 400 types of chocolate and a staggering array of bitters, an herbal essence that provides balance in great cocktails, originating in oldie times and thankfully experiencing a renaissance in forward-leaning cocktail bars today. The Meadow is owned by salt aficionado Mark Bitterman, author of Salted: a Manifesto on the World’s Most Essential Mineral, assuring us that we were on the right track for delving into the World of Salt. The Meadow and their selmeliers (salt sommeliers), aptly guide salt-curious consumers through a maze of well-curated salts for their nuanced flavors and varied applications. The Meadow encourages consumers interested in savoring experiences beyond iodized table salt, to sample unusual and unexpected flavors when it comes to the most basic and foundational flavoring agent. Think ethereal Shinkai Deep Sea for elevating seared scallops on a Wednesday evening or woodsy-scented Red Alder Smoked salt for enhancing buttery roasted almonds. Beyond The Meadow, salt is currently experiencing a renaissance in the US. Yet, American food tradition dictates that salt is part of industrial processed food, whereas modern cuisine celebrates less processed salts for their ability to execute culinary alchemy, in turn cuing consumers that the product is less processed and of higher quality. As in other food cultures where distinctive salts are deeply rooted in culinary tradition, salt and its transformative powers are progressing into a mature food category here in American food culture..   View Here>>

Rules of strategic salting from a 'selmelier' Mark Bitterman calls himself a "selmelier," a made-up word meant to evoke his wish to do for salt what sommeliers do for wine: educate, surprise, delight. Owner of The Meadow, a specialty food and flower shop with branches in New York City and Portland, Ore., he has written a book called "Salted: A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral, With Recipes" (Ten Speed, $35).This handsome tribute to salt outlines its history, varieties, method of manufacture and proper use. He hopes to help Americans relearn what they know about salt and how they use it.   View Here>>

I have quite a significant selection of salts in my kitchen pantry. A chunk of pink Himalyan for grating. A big bag of grey sea salt for texture. A bulk white California sea salt for salting water, cooking, and pickling (I don’t use kosher or any adulterated salts). A big tub of fleur de sel that my friend’s French mother always brings me on her visits. A box of Maldon Celtic salt flakes that add a wonderful crunch. And, a black Hawaiian salt that I sprinkle over light colored foods for a dramatic effect. I thought I was overdoing it until I checked out the selection at The Meadow. Of course, I began to get yet another salt craving. I might need that Djibouti Boule from Lake Assal in Africa, with crystals that range from tiny to the size of a softball. And, the Aburi sea salt smoked over cherry wood might be the perfect touch over pan-roasted cod.   View Here>>

Portland's Salt SellerMark Bitterman roamed the globe hunting special salt for 20 years before he opened the Meadow, a gourmet shop selling more than 100 kinds of salt in Portland’s North Mississippi neighborhood. Mark’s obsession crystallized in late 2010 with the publication of Salted: A Manifesto on the World’s Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes, a comprehensive guide.View Here>

Shop sells worldwide gourmet saltThere are collectors of artwork and baseball memorabilia but Mark Bitterman is interested in something quite different. He is a collector of salt from around the globe and has now opened a store with his wife in New York City where everyone can have a taste.View Here>

Mark Bitterman, Selmelier, The MeadowYes, you read that correctly. Mark Bitterman is a Selmelier —a salt expert, and former New Yorker, recently opened an NYC branch of The Meadow, a shop he started in Portland, Oregon. This West Village boutique not only carries salt, but chocolate, bitters, syrups, oils and vinegars, or, as  Bitterman likes to say, it's "a place where the beautiful, the delicious, and the unexpected are brought together for your pleasure." he was just nominated for a James Beard Award and two IACP Awards for his book, Salted. In case you haven't had the chance to stop by the store, here's a little taste of what you're missing.View Here>

A Love for SaltA seasoned gift. I'm Anthony Dias Blue with the Blue Lifestyle Minute sponsored by CUISINART. Salt is so much more than a drink rimmer or a chip’s sidekick. Mark Bitterman explores the nuanced properties of this seasoning in his book Salted: A Manifesto on the World’s Most Essential Mineral. Serving as “selmelier” at Portland, Oregon’s The Meadow, a critically acclaimed artisan-product boutique, Bitterman has channeled his far-reaching knowledge into a field guide to artisan salts, including the history of salt making, a reference guide, and a compilation of specialty recipes. Salted profiles 80 varieties of salt, ranging from the fleur de sel harvested from Celtic plantations to exotic rock salts found in the Sahara. The practical application portion includes recipes for everything from mango salsa with Hawaiian black lava salt to salt crust–roasted partridge with figs and chocolate. SALTED is available in stores and online for $35, from Ten Speed Press. View Here>>

Pursuing a higher, saltier powerWelcome to The Meadow. Portland's own (yet world-renowned) purveyor of the culinary world's most sacred commodity: salt. How seriously do the priestesses at The Meadow take their ministry? They stock more than 70 varieties of salt. From finishing salts like Andes Mountain Rose to artisan salts like Djibouti Pearls—The Meadow is absolutely guaranteed to have something that will send you into salt SamadhiView Here>

Last Chance Foods: Pass the Salt - The Meadow, a store that offers more than 100 types of gourmet salt, opened in the West Village this past November. At first glance, the timing seems like it couldn’t be worse. Last year, New York City joined the National Salt Reduction Initiative, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg heavily publicized the campaign to lower sodium in foods. The initiative was just the start to a much more nuanced debate, one that was dubbed “the Salt Wars,” by former New York Times columnist James Tierney.View Here>