RD201902

1

Salt was so valu-

able in ancient

Rome that soldiers

were sometimes paid

with it. In fact, the

word salary comes

from the Latin word

sal, for salt. When a

soldier was doing a

lousy job, his paycheck

might be cut, which is

how we got the expres-

sion “not worth his

salt.”

2

Salt can still be

valuable today.

Amethyst Bamboo

9x salt, which rings up

at $398 a pound, may

be the most expensive

in the world. This

pricey stuff takes a lot

of time to produce—it’s

roasted nine times in-

side a bamboo pole at

temperatures exceed-

ing 1,400 degrees F.

One store says the

resulting delicacy

“smells like something

dragons use to season

their victims before

eating them.”

3

Historically,

salt’s value came

from its ability to

preserve food. Venice,

By Jen McCaffery

Amazing Facts

About Salt

52 february 2019 Illustration by Serge Bloch

Reader’s Digest

13 THINGS