18 MAY 2019
OBSESSIONS
NY TIME SAMIN NOSRAT
gets a whiff of saltwater air,
she’s catapulted back to her
childhood in San Diego.
Best known for her cook-
book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat,
followed by a Netflix series of the same
name, Nosrat went to high school three
blocks from the ocean, her “happy place.”
Her family is from Iran, and as a
child, she spent many Persian holidays
at the beach. They would celebrate Cha-
harshanbe Suri, just before the Persian
New Year, Nowruz, by jumping over fires
at sundown and eating ash reshteh, a
thick soup made of noodles and beans.
Then, on Sizdah Bedar, the 13th day of
Nowruz, they would gather for a beach
picnic, toting samovars filled with tea and
unrolling Persian carpets over the sand.
Now based in Berkeley, Nosrat confides
that she’s tried cooking with seawater—
but at 3 percent salinity, it was too salty.
(The perfect salinity for cooking is closer
to 2 percent.) “It sounds minuscule, but
that 1 percent makes a big differ-
ence,” she says. Instead, when
she wants a taste of the
beach, she reaches for
one of her favorite sea
salts. —NINA FRIEND
A
AMABITO NO MOSHIO
(SEAWEED SALT)
“This salt [from Kami-kamagari
Island in Japan] is made with
hondawara seaweed. I
recommend using it in simple
applications where you can taste
the umami.” ($10/3.5-ounce bag,
amazon.com)
M. GILLES HERVY SEL GRIS
“I add it to stocks, roasted meats, water
for vegetables, and anything
fermented,” Nosrat says of this French
sea salt. “I love the minerally flavor as
well as the less refined form.” ($15/
6-ounce bag, amazon.com)
JACOBSEN SALT CO. PURE
FLAKE FINISHING SALT
Of this Oregon sea salt, Nosrat
says,“I add Ben Jacobsen’s flaky
salt to salads at the last minute,
sprinkle it on fish tartare, and use
it with ricotta and burrata to lend a
nice textural contrast.” ($12.50/
4-ounce bag, jacobsensalt.com)
TRAPANI SALE DI GUCCIARDO
FINE SEA SALT
Harvested in Sicily, “I love this one
because it’s a clean-tasting,
workhorse salt,” Nosrat says. “I
keep big jars around for everyday
cooking.” ($3.50/2.2-pound bag,
gustiamo.com)
MALDON SEA SALT
FLAKES
“I feel paranoid when I’m in a
kitchen without Maldon,”
Nosrat says of this crunchy
British sea salt. “Its texture
is extraordinary. It’s perfect
for last-minute seasoning or
sprinkled on chocolate chip
cookies.” ($5.49/8.5-ounce
box, amazon.com)
