While cooking, salt and spices are a creative way to make the meal delicious. Although salt and spices are both fundamental to cooking, they serve distinct roles and offer unique contributions to the dining experience. In this blog, we will discuss salt and spices, exploring their differences and their critical roles in flavoring and preserving food.
The Role of Salt in Cooking
· The Essential Mineral
Many people consider salt merely a flavor enhancer. However, it is a mineral without which mankind cannot exist. Often described as sodium chloride and in broad use, it is an important compound in the body besides being used in cooking. Its ability to enhance flavors by balancing sweetness and bitterness is unmatched. Some recipes can bring out the natural flavor of food by adding just a pinch of salt to it.
Salt also possesses the property of acting as a preservative and that particular function has been quite crucial in the past. It extracts moisture-causing substances from the foods hence reducing the rate of resulting bacterial formation and maintaining the shelf life of the items. This is why salt is employed in the preservation of meat, the pickling of vegetables, and the preservation of fish.
Besides flavoring and preserving food, salt is essential in cooking. For instance, it helps in the caramelization of sugars, contributes to the grain of baked goods, and can even change water’s boiling/ freezing point.
Types of Salt and Their Uses
Not all salts available in the market can be regarded as essential and suitable for consumption.
- Table Salt:
Table salt is an essential ingredient in most homes that usually comes in fine grain size, often iodized. It dissolves very easily and is commonly used in cooking and baking.
- Sea Salt:
The salt obtained from the evaporation of seawater also contains some minerals, and therefore different in taste from refined table salt. Sea salt is available in coarse-grain and fine-grain sizes and is ideal for a variety of foods.
- Himalayan Pink Salt:
Himalayan pink salt is a special salt with a pink color that is obtained from the Khewra salt mines. It has over 80 minerals such as magnesium, calcium, and iron to give it that pinkish hue and subtle salty flavor. It can be used as an alternative to regular salt and finishing salt on prepared meals. Dive into the world of Himalayan pink salt at Saltean – a premier salt brand in the USA.
- Kosher Salt:
Kosher salt is the one with the larger, more irregularly shaped crystals that the chefs find easier to handle and evenly spread. Meat dishes and brining are best done using the marinade.
It’s interesting to note that, each of these types of salts has something different to offer and knowledge of the differences will aid in choosing the right type of salt for use in a meal.
Role of spices
- The Flavor Enhancers
Spices are the seeds, fruits, roots, barks, or other parts of some types of plants that are used to enhance the flavor and color of food.
Every spice has been a part of traditions and has been used in the culinary processes across the world since history.
Many spices possess bioactive ingredients that can promote good health, which include, anti-inflammatory effects, antioxidant effects, and antimicrobial effects.
Common spices and their uses:
Let’s explore some commonly used spices and how they contribute to cooking: Let’s explore some commonly used spices and how they contribute to cooking:
- Black Pepper:
It adds a sharp, pungent taste and aroma to foods. It can be served alongside almost any dish, like soup or any type of meat.
- Cinnamon:
From the inner bark of plants in the Cinnamomum family, the sweet and warm spice is obtained. This is usually applied in cakes, cookies, other baked goods, drinks, sweets, and some curries.
- Turmeric:
A typical yellow spice and an essential taste in South Asian cuisines, turmeric is all about warm colors and equally warm tastes. They also use it in curries, rice, and some incidents, as well as in food coloring.
- Cumin:
This kind of cumin seed is warm and has a nutty taste, and is usually used in Mexican, Middle Eastern, and Indian food. Others are used in great measures to enhance the value and flavors of foods such as chili, and stews as well as in spices.
Key Differences Between Salt and Spices
Looking at the structure and sources of salt and spices, they differ in one way: composition. Salt is a substance made up of mostly sodium chloride and is obtained through the mining of soil or water bodies. On the other hand, spices belong to the plant kingdom and are made of several components that afford them unique taste and aroma.
Culinary Functions
Thus, while both salt and spices can improve food and its qualities, they do so differently. Also, salt more visibly releases the inherent taste of the other ingredients in a dish.
Spices introduce numerous tastes to a dish, such as sweetness, bitterness, or a combination of all three. Due to their color, spices can also add visual appeal to dishes and can even change the aroma of food.
Conclusion
Both salt and spices are very important in the kitchen and although they share some similarities in the role they play when cooking, they are still quite distinct. While salt acts as a flavoring agent, spices on the other hand introduce new flavors to meals. Thus, it is worth cherishing the world of salt and spices, trying different pairings, and going on fascinating tastings.
