Article: Crystal clear The dynamic textures and flavors of coarse salts are shaking up the most ordinary foods; A few kinds of salt Salt used on food must be at least 97.5% sodium chloride; most table salt is nearly 99%. Kitchen salts include: Table salt, sometimes called iodized salt: The common salt used in most households. Shaped like tiny cubes, table salt is finely ground and mixed with calcium silicate to prevent caking or clumping. Table salt can be mined or it can be a sea salt. Kosher salt: Coarse, flaky salt used by many food professionals. Shaped like tiny pyramids, it's used on pretzels and on the rim of margarita glasses, as well as for curing meat and fish. Sea salt: Made of evaporated seawater that's been purified, it can be coarse or fine. Trace amounts of minerals such as potassium make it a favorite of health-food fans. Rock salt: Not edible; used for freezing ice cream.

Salt.

What's there to say? You sprinkle the tiny granules on your food. Follow with a little ground pepper, and dive in. It makes things taste "better." End of story, right?

Let's start over this time not with regular table salt but the "coarse" salt, bigger than a sesame seed. It adds not only flavor but texture. Coarse salt gives tomato slices an exciting "bite." Sprinkled just before serving, it adds an unexpected crunch to soft scrambled eggs. It somehow makes a hearty steak heartier. In a world where mushrooms are now shiitake and Portobello, where pepper has become "whole peppercorn" in black and green and white, salt that most basic of seasonings also is going gourmet. Besides ...

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