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Salt
Sept 7, 2017 18:06:19 GMT
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Post by mickthecactus on Sept 7, 2017 18:06:19 GMT
Why do American recipes always call for kosher salt?
Isn't there non kosher salt?
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Salt
Sept 7, 2017 18:49:40 GMT
Post by cheerypeabrain on Sept 7, 2017 18:49:40 GMT
Is it just the size of the salt grains that's different? I'd never heard of kosher salt. I use sea salt or rock salt crystals in my mill...those are chunks or flakes but I guess they aren't kosher salt...
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Salt
Sept 7, 2017 18:51:31 GMT
Post by kerouac2 on Sept 7, 2017 18:51:31 GMT
In France, it is just called coarse salt (gros sel). I have no idea why that American name came into being.
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Sept 7, 2017 18:55:38 GMT
Post by cheerypeabrain on Sept 7, 2017 18:55:38 GMT
Interesting...
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Sept 7, 2017 19:09:27 GMT
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Post by mickthecactus on Sept 7, 2017 19:09:27 GMT
So is it actually a Jewish item?
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Sept 7, 2017 19:19:53 GMT
Post by onlyMark on Sept 7, 2017 19:19:53 GMT
Kosher salt is really "koshering" salt. It does have larger grains and can be produced by rolling salt to make flakes, small ones though. All salt is kosher, by the way, but kosher(ing) salt is primarily used originally to soak away the blood on the surface of meat in preparation for making the meat "kosher". Eating/drinking blood is not allowed under Jewish dietary laws.
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Sept 7, 2017 19:22:31 GMT
Post by cheerypeabrain on Sept 7, 2017 19:22:31 GMT
Well I never knowed that....but now I do.
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Sept 7, 2017 19:26:00 GMT
via mobile
Post by mickthecactus on Sept 7, 2017 19:26:00 GMT
And me. He's a mine of information isn't he?
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Sept 7, 2017 19:33:54 GMT
Post by onlyMark on Sept 7, 2017 19:33:54 GMT
There are a lot of laws regarding what can and can't be eaten, never mind whether Jewish or not. In Arabic certain foods are 'haram', i.e. forbidden. Obviously pork. But also some foods can be eaten, or not, depending on how they were prepared/slaughtered. Halal meat for example is not haram as the animal is killed and prepared in a certain way (done in the name of Allah), but the same meat if not done that way, is haram/forbidden. I've just had to look up the word used to describe the method of preparation to make something halal as it's some time since I've been in that environment, but the word is dhabīḥah.
Nutmeg is forbidden, by the way.
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Sept 7, 2017 19:42:44 GMT
Post by onlyMark on Sept 7, 2017 19:42:44 GMT
One last thing (two things actually) that has just popped into my memory - I have little idea of Jewish dietary laws and if in certain circumstances it is forgiven or allowed to eat non-kosher foods. But in Islamic dietary laws, it is perfectly fine to eat haram foods, as you will be forgiven by God, when in dire need and there is no alternative. But obviously, you can only eat the minimum necessary to survive. When slaughtering an animal, it must have been looked after and well fed beforehand, can't be done where other animals can see it happening plus, (as you have to cut the jugular in the neck for the blood to flow out) the animal must not see the knife beforehand.
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Sept 7, 2017 19:58:27 GMT
Post by kerouac2 on Sept 7, 2017 19:58:27 GMT
Just for the record, it is also specified in Islamic texts that Muslims may eat the food of the "people of the Book" -- i.e. Jews -- because they basically have the same dietary rules.
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Sept 7, 2017 20:30:55 GMT
Post by onlyMark on Sept 7, 2017 20:30:55 GMT
On a point of pedantry/accuracy/hair splitting, "i.e" Jews, should read "e.g." Jews - as Christians are also of the book as are (and again I remembered there was a third but couldn't remember who they were/are), but they are Sabians - whoever the hell they are anyway. I was often asked during my travels through the Middle East across through 'Persia' and Pakistan to India what religion I was. Never being sure if there was a right or wrong answer, I always said I was of the book. It seemed to work.
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Sept 7, 2017 21:02:42 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Sept 7, 2017 21:02:42 GMT
Why do American recipes always call for kosher salt? I don't know that all American recipes call for it, but it's possible that many/all newer ones do. Anyway, I think the reason is because kosher salt doesn't have additives such as non-caking agents, iodine, etc., nor has it been very processed. When I came to Mexico for the first time, in the early 70s, I remember being struck by the taste of the salt, which just tasted of salt and had no bitter tones such as table salt had in the US at that time, in my experience. It was also not bright white, but had a gray tinge. Regular Mexican salt nowadays looks exactly like American salt and, in Oaxaca anyway, is always iodized. I'm assuming kosher salt might be preferable for its direct, non-altered salt taste. (& I wouldn't necessarily take my word for this!) Louisiana has salt domes and naturally, salt mines. I always heard that if you ate only vegetables grown in that state, you'd never have to worry about an iodine deficiency, because of the iodine occurring naturally in the soil. Apparently goiters in places like the midwestern US used to be more common because of iodine deficiency. Mark, you are a goldmine of really useful and fascinating facts about the area "through the Middle East across through 'Persia' and Pakistan to India"!
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Sept 7, 2017 21:25:48 GMT
Post by kerouac2 on Sept 7, 2017 21:25:48 GMT
Every time my grandmother came to the United States, she would do a lot of the cooking and would have to learn each time "American salt (Morton's) is much saltier than French salt." The sea salt used in France is not pure sodium chloride. Why fix salt if it is not broken?
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Sept 7, 2017 23:40:52 GMT
Post by lagatta on Sept 7, 2017 23:40:52 GMT
Now people pay good money for salts containing by-products - I bought a cheapish Himalayan one, no big outlay, because over-processing strips other minerals from table salt. Isn't ordinary French table salt now very similar to North American kinds?
Indeed, koshering salt is coarser, and contains no additives. Pretty much the same as gros sel (we also call it that in Québec). Jewish and Muslim slaughter methods are practically identical, and emphasized reducing pain and anguish for the slaughtered beast. In desert conditions without modern refrigeration, the ban on blood also had to do with human health. The main difference is that kosher slaughter also requires salting to draw out further blood (supposedly all blood, but that is impossible). In Arab countries, Jewish neighbourhoods were called mellahs, meaning "salting places" (saloirs) for that reason.
Of course Christians are also people of the Book, but when Christianity spread to Europe, especially among those north of the Alps, both the circumcision requirement and the ban on pork (including wild boars) pretty much fell by the wayside. The many Christian Arabs I know (large Levantine communities here) don't use pork in their traditional dishes, but they might eat it in western dishes if they aren't particularly traditional. Especially ham and bacon/lardons!
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Sept 8, 2017 8:08:42 GMT
via mobile
Post by mickthecactus on Sept 8, 2017 8:08:42 GMT
I'm glad I started this thread. It's been very interesting. Thanks!
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Salt
Sept 8, 2017 12:33:21 GMT
Post by questa on Sept 8, 2017 12:33:21 GMT
Many of the dietary and hygiene laws were to maintain the health of the people who lived in semi desert areas. Until mid 20th century pork was a carrier of hydatids which killed many pig eating people. Also banned were birds that ate carrion, shellfish and other food poisoning items. Rules for hand and body washing and cleanliness of food preparation were strict. During the Black Death plague that decimated the population of Europe, the Jews and Arabic people had a lower disease rate and better survival rate..this was mainly through the observance of the rules, but some were declared witches.
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Sept 8, 2017 17:15:43 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Sept 8, 2017 17:15:43 GMT
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Apr 16, 2020 19:47:11 GMT
Post by kerouac2 on Apr 16, 2020 19:47:11 GMT
Since I was getting low on my big jar of sea salt (kosher salt?), I bought a new kilo bag of 'sel de Guérande' from the Atlantic Ocean recently. The contents of this bag are definitely grey, so I will assume that it is less pure than ever (a good thing as far as I'm concerned). Less salty, more interesting trace minerals. Obviously, they could not sell it if there was anything dodgy about it.
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Apr 16, 2020 19:52:53 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Apr 16, 2020 19:52:53 GMT
I would say it is more pure, not less, since the process of whitening it, making it free-flowing, etc. is adulteration. I knew a woman who was a sugar chemist and she said we should all be appalled at what is done to make sugar so nice and white.
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Apr 16, 2020 20:08:25 GMT
Post by kerouac2 on Apr 16, 2020 20:08:25 GMT
My use of coarse salt it really quite minor. I throw in a handful whenever I am boiling water for potatoes, artichokes or mixed vegetables for a soup. Also to start browning beef or chicken in a deep pan. But I never use it for 'real' seasoning.
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Apr 17, 2020 15:33:43 GMT
Post by questa on Apr 17, 2020 15:33:43 GMT
In Lombok, Indonesia there is a big problem with thyroid disease and particularly in the south. I was amazed at the women I saw with large goitres from ear to chest levels. The iodised salt is more expensive that the salt they harvest from the sea so the Government issues each family with a kilo of iodised salt each month. Sadly it never reaches the women who need it because the men sell it on to buy cigarettes. Trying to convince the people of the worth of public health issues is a thankless job.
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Apr 17, 2020 15:39:45 GMT
Post by kerouac2 on Apr 17, 2020 15:39:45 GMT
Doesn't sea salt already contain sufficient iodine? In my experience the only salt that needs to be iodised is salt from mines.
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Apr 17, 2020 17:44:44 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Apr 17, 2020 17:44:44 GMT
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