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Author Mark Bitterman believes in experimenting with the essential table mineral: "Salt’s primary role is to accentuate flavor—it defines flavors more clearly and amplifies them..." Listen here>>    Order your very own signed copy now - click here!  

Read about gourmet salt's growing popularity among chefs in India, and how the man behind it all is our very own Mark Bitterman.

There used to be a time when asking for a salt shaker meant the chef didn’t add enough flavor. Today, some cooks choose to leave the seasoning unfinished in the kitchen to allow you to put the final touch on yourself using artisan finishing salts... These premium options aren’t exclusively for self-proclaimed foodies like Melanie. Mark Bitterman has literally written a book on salt and owns a store which specializes in artisan options. “We sell about 120 different kinds of salt from all over the world and really there are thousands and thousands of different types,” said Bitterman. View Here>>  

Once upon a time, on a tiny island called Manhattan, there was a little shop where gourmet treasures lined the walls… What is this, a food fairytale? That’s what we asked ourselves when we stumbled into The Meadow, a charming gourmet sundries shop that specializes in salt, chocolate, and bitters. We also learned a new word, when we found out that owner Mark Bitterman, is a selmelier, a professional specializing in salt and its culinary uses. We love when we learn a new word. First: the salt. With more than 120 varieties, with origins from Hawaii to the Himalayas, The Meadow is a mecca for the most important mineral in our kitchen. The windows are lined with gorgeous pink salt blocks, which the friendly staff will help explain how to use (We’re going to use ours to sear steak tableside, NBD). But it doesn’t stop there: there’s a full wall of salts in attractive jars that boast unexpected flavors: bacon salt, buttery popcorn salt, and the prettiest and pinkest pinot noir salt. Turn around, and you’ll face a wall stacked with another vital sundry: chocolate. Expertly crafted, from all over the world, and wrapped in colorful, patterned paper, these bars are far from the banal candy bars you’ll find elsewhere. In addition to all this, The Meadow’s got gourmet bitters, cocktail condiments, oils, and other specialty kitchen items. Every single item in the shop would make a fantastic gift… if you can make yourself give it away. With his store and his books, Salted and Salt Block Cooking, and an upcoming project that focuses on cocktail bitters, Mark Bitterman’s expanding our culinary horizons in a major way. This is a rabbit hole we’re totally ready to fall down. View Article>

Salt, as any aspiring kitchen scientist can tell you, is a flavor enhancer. It’s not the star of a dish; it’s a supporting player—unless it’s really, really, really good salt. This past Tuesday, chef Michael Stanton of The Heathman Restaurant & Bar in Portland, Oregon, and selmelier Mark Bitterman of The Meadow (a specialty salt shop with locations in New York City and Portland) teamed up to create a dinner at the James Beard House in which weird and wonderful salts were the main event. There were salt block-cured sturgeon, salt-crusted morels and even a dessert of chocolate-covered pear dipped in three different salts. Here, five unique salts Bitterman and Stanton think everyone should try.       Taha’a Vanilla Sea SaltInfused with Tahitian vanilla pods, this flaky salt has the texture of phyllo dough. Its delicate flavor and subtle crunch make it a great finishing salt for mild, sweet seafood like crab or scallops. Takesumi Bamboo Carbonized Deep Sea SaltDark gray and crumbly, this flinty, oyster-esque salt is poured into bamboo capsules and incinerated in a kiln. The carbonized salt has an amazing superpower: It gives lean meats the illusion of fattiness. Alaskan Alder Smoked SaltAccording to Bitterman, this intensely smoky salt “tastes like the Yukon.” The large, crackling flakes are a beautiful pale pink and great for game meats as well as rich dishes like creamy risotto. Sale di CerviaThis granular salt taken from the Adriatic has a unique sweetness. Bitterman likens it to berries. Amabito No Moshio Japanese Sea SaltSuper-powdery and the color of a café au lait, this salt starts as a powder that’s scraped off drying seaweed. That powder is made into a brine, then boiled down until the salt crystals form. It’s packed with a ton of umami flavor. View Article>

Over the millennia, salt has played a role in cultures around the world, from its use as money to its importance as a symbol of friendship and sharing. Salt is mentioned in the Bible and in folk tales, and it remains the one ingredient with the most uses in every culinary tradition. Modern manufacturing techniques did much to change salt’s nature and to hide its potency, diversity, and intrinsic value. Now, it’s enjoying a comeback as artisanal salts such as fleur de sel, flake salt, and dozens of others continue to grow in popularity. People were amazed by what adding these crystals to a dish did to enhance the flavor and texture of food. Learn about salt’s history and how it’s shaking things up in today’s culinary world from leading salt expert Mark Bitterman. Enjoy tastings featuring six dazzling artisan-made salts and find out how to use one of nature’s most ancient ingredients to perform miracles in the modern kitchen. Bitterman is the award-winning author of Salted and Salt Block Cooking and owner of the specialty store, The Meadow. View Article>

Like a chapter from Jules Verne, my story begins with a squid.  I was eight, very hungry and had just met my parents’ exotic new friend.  She claimed to be from Yugoslavia, but to this day, I swear she was a Gypsy. The Gypsy was eating squid.  And, if she could do it, well so could I. I took my first bite.  Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever eaten squid, but, aside from the Gummi Bear-like consistency, it is one of the singularly most uneventful gastronomic experiences I’ve ever had.  Dining upon a “sea monster”, I expected to be transformed; I wasn’t.  Seeing the disappointment on my face, the Gypsy smiled an enigmatic smile, put her fork aside, and began to tell me about Ivan. “Now, Ivan was a young Russian merchant who hoped to win the hand of a beautiful princess, she whispered, her gravelly voice weaving a spell. “By ‘young’, I mean penniless.  Ivan had no gold or jewels to impress the princess’s father, the Tsar.  What he did have was a ship’s cargo full of ‘white sand’, a substance heretofore unknown to the Tsar’s kingdom.  Salt.” As The Gypsy continued, she sprinkled some grains on my squid — just as Ivan did with to the Tsar’s dinner.  Suddenly, for both the Tsar and myself, the salt worked its magic and once black-and-white tastes shone with glorious Technicolor. Salt.  Who would think that a world of flavor exists in this innocuous little crystal? Yet, it works magic when combined with other ingredients, enhancing otherwise hidden flavors. Not only does it heighten the taste of starchy foods like potatoes, rice, and beans, but it adds a unique dimension to sweet treats, off-setting their sugary complexity. Ever forget to add that pinch of salt to chocolate chip cookies?  Believe me, you’ll remember when you eat them.   The same goes for baking bread. Salt slows down the fermentation of the yeast, affects rising time and makes the grain’s richness come alive.  Old-fashioned, hand-churned ice cream would be an impossibility without rock salt. Are you a fan of deli food? Well, you could say goodbye to those dill pickles and sauerkraut.  Their unique flavors are made possible by the salty brine in which they cure. Salt is perhaps the perfect “food” for, without it, no dish seems complete. I discovered it when my Gypsy friend anointed my squid.  Ivan knew this and his insight awoke the palates of a kingdom and won him the hand of the princess. Lest you think I’m waxing to poetic about the miracle of salt, consider this. What other food could have been used as payment for Roman Centurions or inspired Gandhi — yes, you heard right — to march to the sea to gather his own when a British monopoly curtailed its availability.  Gandhi knew what all truly good cooks (and salt aficionados) know. Salt makes food come alive, coaxing out the most reluctant and complex flavors, dancing across our taste buds, which, I’m happy to report, are designed to appreciate salt in all its singular, salty glory. View Article >