Living in a society with a seemingly endless supply of options and varieties, it is sometimes difficult to imagine the importance of something so humble and ubiquitous as salt. In an age when new "boutique ingredients" and fad-diets emerge on a daily basis, it's also difficult to realize that salt is essential to survival--your body actually needs it, to regulate the fluids of which we are all made. The paradox of the situation is that our bodies need salt but cannot produce it on their own, in turn we consume the salt we need but sometimes far too much, often to the point where it becomes detrimental to our health. The Heart, Lung and Blood institute urges everyone to limit their salt intake to 2400 milligrams a day (about a teaspoon), currently the average American diet contains almost twice that amount. It's not difficult to consume, and exceed, your body's daily recommended salt intake, sometimes twice or thrice the amount which is actually required. Salt is in the makeup of almost all foods, with incredibly high percentages in processed foods. On many packaged foods you'll find salt listed within the first few ingredients. The hard, cold fact is that salt, fat and sugar are what makes junk food so desirable to our palates. Salt sells.

There have been numerous books written on the subject of reducing or omitting salt in your diet. This is particularly ironic, I feel, due to the fact that in centuries prior there have actually been wars fought over obtaining the substance. At one time salt was so valued that Roman solders received a salt allowance as a portion of their pay. The Latin term for this allowance was salarium argentum, the origin of the English word "salary" and the French word "argent," meaning silver or money. On a more local scale, the Erie Canal was at once known as "the ditch that salt built," because one of its original cargoes was salt.

The medicinal uses of salt are also great. Ancient peoples learned early on that salt applied to an open or infectious wound would draw out the infection and help it heal. I was working one busy night when a co-worker, who was native to the Caribbean Islands, cut himself badly. I watched in horror as he poured salt directly into the open wound to disinfect it--he didn’t even wince, but I did. And who doesn't remember their mother or grandmother prescribing a saltwater gargle to cure a soar throat.

The importance of salt as a culinary ingredient is obvious; it’s in almost every recipe. Salt is not actually a flavor, per se, but more of a flavor enhancement. A pinch of salt will bring forth the flavors that are already present. Salt can also be used as a cooking vessel similar to clay or terracotta. Salt baking is a very ancient method that has recently become popular. Foods are encased in a sort of salt-dough and baked in a moderate oven. Initially this was done in a pit or near an open fire. After which, the crust is removed and discarded, the resulting product is succulent, flavorful and surpassingly not salty.