1 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Food Stuff. I'm an Eeries and 2 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,279 Speaker 1: I'm Lauren vogel Bomb and today we're talking about one 3 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 1: of those basics of culinary everything everything. Yeah, salt, salts. 4 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 1: Not the movie. No, as you guess, watching watching, listening 5 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: to a food podcast, we are not talking about the 6 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: Angelina Jolie movie. I mean, I guess we could have. 7 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: I have never seen it, but I could, I could guess. 8 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:42,479 Speaker 1: I think what goes on I have, I don't remember 9 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:45,600 Speaker 1: that being a film, but but I'm sure, I'm sure 10 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 1: it happened. Um. One, salt is so such a big 11 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: thing that the Oxford English Dictionary has four pages of 12 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: references to salt. When that beats all other foods. Oh 13 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: my goodness, how big a thing it is. Yeah. Yeah, 14 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,960 Speaker 1: it's also just really integral to a lot of history, 15 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,680 Speaker 1: like a lot of things without salt, will aid, I 16 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: guess none of us would technically be alive, but but 17 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:15,600 Speaker 1: be uh yeah, just just all kinds of technologies have 18 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,520 Speaker 1: been driven by the quest for salt. This is true, 19 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:21,959 Speaker 1: And this is a special episode because we got to 20 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 1: talk to local Atlanta salt expert Susie Sheffield of Beautiful 21 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 1: Briny c Yes, a maker of dry goods, including a 22 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,480 Speaker 1: number of salt blends. Yes, um, and you'll get to 23 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: hear a bit of that interview at the end. And 24 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 1: they were so gracious and we've got to try so 25 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: many salt samples. Oh it was beautiful. They sent us 26 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: home with like a goodie bag. Yes, a frisbee, a frisbee. 27 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:51,000 Speaker 1: Thank thank, thank you so much to them. Um. And yeah, 28 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: well one of the first times that I've that I've 29 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 1: heard someone speak about the flavor of different salts the 30 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,559 Speaker 1: way that she does. So it's really it's really great. 31 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: And also, Susie, if you're listening, don't panic about the 32 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:08,080 Speaker 1: health bit that's coming at the front. Oh yeah, because 33 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:12,520 Speaker 1: it's always better to for your your health and for 34 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: the taste of food to use salt at home, to 35 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 1: cook your own food if you can, if you have 36 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: time and sparingly, and perhaps in blends to bring out 37 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:28,079 Speaker 1: other flavors, perhaps perhaps some delicious, delicious blends. But now 38 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: perhaps we should go ahead and answer answer that question, Lauren, Oh, 39 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: salt salt, what is it? It's a big question. It is, Um. 40 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: There are lots of types of salt, but uh, in general, 41 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: what we're talking about is sodium chloride yeah, sometimes sometimes 42 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:50,119 Speaker 1: called table salt, sometimes the most common. It's also called halite, 43 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:53,520 Speaker 1: which is salts mineral name, which is also sometimes called 44 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: rock salt. Rock salt is generally not food grade, and 45 00:02:57,040 --> 00:02:59,959 Speaker 1: he probably should not lick it. It might contain mineral 46 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: or bacterial and impurities that would not be good for you. Um, 47 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: But it is great for getting a container cold enough 48 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 1: to make ice cream or for melting the ice on 49 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:14,520 Speaker 1: your sidewalk. H And despite what the seasoning aisle of 50 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:18,120 Speaker 1: your very fancy local grosser might lead you to believe, 51 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:21,359 Speaker 1: there are just three basic types of food grade salt 52 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:26,080 Speaker 1: got table salt, sea salt, and kosher salt. Table salt 53 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:30,080 Speaker 1: is that that fine grained, clear to white, highly standardized 54 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: stuff that you'll find in salt shakers across the land. 55 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 1: It's been processed to remove mineral impurities and probably contains 56 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: some kind of like non clumping agents such as calcium phosphate, 57 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: and also maybe iodine or other dietary additives. More on 58 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: that in a second. Sea salt can be coarse or 59 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: fine or flaky, depending on how the crystals are grown 60 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: and harvested and processed, and it can come in a 61 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: whole bunch of different colors depending on what trace minerals 62 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: exist in the in the evaporation ponds or chambers where 63 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: it's made. Iron oxide from volcanic clay or caroteene from 64 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: algae might be the reason that the salt is pink. 65 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:12,320 Speaker 1: Charcoal or sulfuric compounds can make salt black, and sea 66 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 1: clay or wood smoke can produce gray salts m h. 67 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: These can change the flavor of the salt a little 68 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: bit in terms of the minerals, or quite a lot 69 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: in terms of the smoke, depending on you know what 70 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:28,719 Speaker 1: exactly it's involved. Yeah, and kosher salt is coarse grained 71 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:32,039 Speaker 1: and again clear or white. It is also processed to 72 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 1: remove impurities, but generally does not contain additives. It's called 73 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:39,159 Speaker 1: kosher salt because it's used in making meats kosher. It 74 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: draws out the blood really quickly. Oh, we'll have to 75 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:44,840 Speaker 1: do a whole other episode on kosher ing. Oh, yeah, 76 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:49,400 Speaker 1: we absolutely should. Yeah. Um. Quick cooking tip keep keep 77 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: the size of your salts crystals in mind when you're cooking, 78 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: because flakes and fine crystals are best in situations like 79 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: baking and finishing. When you want to disperse the salt 80 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: evenly and let it dissolved quickly. Coarser grains don't smoothh 81 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: in with each other as much as finer grains wills. 82 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 1: So if you're if you're measuring coarse grained salt for 83 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: a recipe that calls for table salt, then you might 84 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:14,719 Speaker 1: need to add more of it. Okay, sodium by itself 85 00:05:14,839 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: is just highly volatile and chlorine is toxic. But the 86 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: two together are necessary for life and humans and other animals. 87 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 1: How can this be? I know, I thought I thought 88 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 1: I was supposed to eat less salt. Yeah, that's what 89 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 1: I hear. It's well, I mean, you probably should, uh, 90 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:35,840 Speaker 1: but but the sodium in salt is necessary for a 91 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:39,360 Speaker 1: few different bodily functions. It helps yoursels and organs maintain 92 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: their proper fluid balance. It's used in the contraction and 93 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: relaxation of your muscle fibers you know, like including your heart, 94 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: important stuff like that. And it also transmits nerve impulses. 95 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:54,440 Speaker 1: So you need some sodium in your diet, and since 96 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: sodium molecules are fickle, the best way for us to 97 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:00,720 Speaker 1: get it is via salt. Also, on the good end, 98 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:04,559 Speaker 1: some salt helpfully comes iodized that that is, with small 99 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:08,280 Speaker 1: amounts of iodine added during manufacture. And iodine is another 100 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:10,839 Speaker 1: essential mineral that our bodies cannot make, so we have 101 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:14,479 Speaker 1: to get it from our food. Our thyroid gland uses 102 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 1: iodine to make the hormone thyroxin, which sounds great, uh, 103 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: and it is great. It then uses that thyroxin to 104 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:25,400 Speaker 1: help control just a whole bunch of different bodily functions breathing, 105 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:30,040 Speaker 1: heart rate, metabolism, body weight. When we don't get enough iodine, 106 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:33,599 Speaker 1: the thyroid enlarges and becomes overactive in this attempt to 107 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,599 Speaker 1: grab up more, causing a goiter to form. That's a 108 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:38,039 Speaker 1: that's a kind of bulge at the front of the 109 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:42,680 Speaker 1: neck where the thyroid is located, and the thyroid in 110 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:45,160 Speaker 1: that condition cannot make enough thyroxin, which can throw off 111 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: all of those functions I mentioned, and even worse, it 112 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: can stunt physical and mental growth in children. So yeah, 113 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: iodine is found naturally in sea water, and so if 114 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:59,679 Speaker 1: you're eating seafood or vegetables that were grown on land 115 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: it was once a seabed frequently like coastal areas or 116 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,719 Speaker 1: or other low lying areas, you can get enough on 117 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:09,280 Speaker 1: your own, but for folks who live inland or at 118 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 1: higher elevations and who do not import a lot of food, 119 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: hyperthyroidism can be a serious problem. It was such an 120 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: epidemic in some parts of the United States in the 121 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties that we started eydizing salt because a it's 122 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: easily done and and be salt is predictably consumed by everybody. Yeah, yeah, 123 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: it's everywhere in developing areas of the world. Stuff like 124 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 1: fluoride and folic acid are similarly added to salt for 125 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 1: public health purposes. But you only need a tiny amount 126 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 1: of salt to get your sodium, maybe as little as 127 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:49,000 Speaker 1: like two hundred milligrams per day. The average American eats 128 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 1: about three thousand, four hundred milligrams per day. That's a 129 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: little bit higher than two hundred milligrams, just a tiny bit, 130 00:07:57,360 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: just a little bit um. According to the CDC, high 131 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 1: salt consumption might come out to twenty billion dollars a 132 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 1: year in health costs um. The research behind that number 133 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: is disputed, though, but it's a it's a high abount. 134 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 1: It is um And the the problem with salt is 135 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: that when you eat too much of it, your your 136 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: kidneys try to flush the excess sodium out through your urine. 137 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 1: But if they still can't flush enough, that sodium can 138 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 1: build up in the fluid between your cells, and your 139 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: body will try to dilute it by holding onto water, 140 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:30,679 Speaker 1: which increases the volume of the fluid between your cells 141 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: and the volume of your blood, and that puts pressure 142 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: on your blood vessels and makes your heart work harder 143 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 1: to pump all that blood, and eventually, with continued exposure, 144 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:42,319 Speaker 1: this can harden the walls of your blood vessels, creating 145 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:44,840 Speaker 1: high blood pressure and increasing your risk of stuff like 146 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 1: heart attack, heart failure, and stroke. Yeah, not good times. 147 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: Studies into how much salt is too much are also conflicting, 148 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:59,680 Speaker 1: but most public health organizations agree that eating over two thousand, 149 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 1: three hundred milligrams a day will have negative impacts on 150 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: your health. That's about a teaspoon. Uh, And it's also 151 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 1: about two thirds of what the average American eats, so 152 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,960 Speaker 1: reduced by a third, y'all okay, especially if you like 153 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 1: many of us, eat a lot of processed and heavily 154 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 1: salted foods in restaurants and at home, perhaps especially through snacks, 155 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:26,720 Speaker 1: fast food, processed meats, and prepared meals. Either box store frozen. Yeah. 156 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:28,840 Speaker 1: I had this favorite meal as a kid, and it 157 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:32,400 Speaker 1: was a mushroom fed accini alfredo in a bag. And 158 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:35,440 Speaker 1: I remember the day when I realized that one the 159 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:38,439 Speaker 1: serving size, there were three servings in there, and I 160 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 1: was reading it as if it was one, As if 161 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 1: it was one. Multiply everything by three, and the salt 162 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:48,439 Speaker 1: before multiplied was two. My goodness, And then that was 163 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:50,200 Speaker 1: the last time I ever ate it. Like, even as 164 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:55,080 Speaker 1: a kid, I knew that's too much good good for you. Yeah, 165 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:56,960 Speaker 1: that's great. I tend to salt as one of the 166 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: things I tend to ignore. But after doing this research, 167 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:01,560 Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, me, and this is going to impact 168 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 1: my rum inhabit well it also, I remember the saturated fat, 169 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: it was like seventy There were other problems in the salt. 170 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:11,760 Speaker 1: It was enough for a high school me to say 171 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:14,520 Speaker 1: to say, oh, you know what, maybe I shouldn't eating this. 172 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 1: Don't like it that much anymore? Yeah, uh yeah. The 173 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 1: best way to cut down on salt is to prepare 174 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 1: your own snacks and meals from fresh ingredients, though of 175 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:27,559 Speaker 1: course that can be super expensive in terms of money 176 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 1: and or time. So just if your family has a 177 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: history of heart trouble. Read your food labels, choose unsalted 178 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:37,160 Speaker 1: or less salted foods, and add your own pizzazz at home. 179 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:40,079 Speaker 1: You're you're pretty much guaranteed to use less than what 180 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:42,560 Speaker 1: would be in pre seasoned foods. And you can also 181 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,000 Speaker 1: cut back a little bit by experimenting with herbs and spices, 182 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 1: or step down off of pure salt by using seasoning blends. 183 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: But now, if you're asking yourself, all that health stuff 184 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: is terrifying. But what I'm here to learn is something 185 00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 1: not terrifying. I was asking myself that, well, it's not 186 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:00,840 Speaker 1: really a question, but you for going with me on 187 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: and I appreciate the y s and uh so, so 188 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:08,160 Speaker 1: let's talk about how salt is made generally less terrifying. 189 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:11,160 Speaker 1: There's the mining involved of salt exists in two basic 190 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:14,840 Speaker 1: forms in nature, as rocks or halite and dissolved in 191 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:17,680 Speaker 1: the ocean. Ocean water is salty because of the water 192 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:20,880 Speaker 1: cycle um rain and runoff collect sodium and chloride on 193 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 1: their way to the ocean, where the salt collects when 194 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:26,839 Speaker 1: when water evaporates to start the whole process over again. 195 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:31,040 Speaker 1: Lakes generally don't get salty because they generally have outlets 196 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:33,480 Speaker 1: to to keep their water flowing and fresh like a 197 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:36,679 Speaker 1: like a good rap song. Yeah, I see what you 198 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:42,280 Speaker 1: did there. Light is formed by deposits of salt from 199 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:46,360 Speaker 1: ancient oceans that have been buried during hundreds of thousands 200 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 1: of years of tectonic plate shifts, which is pretty badass 201 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:53,720 Speaker 1: when it is get right to it. Um Halite is 202 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,640 Speaker 1: mined the way that other minerals are, via shafts that 203 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,680 Speaker 1: are drilled and and rooms cut out into the deposits, 204 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:02,520 Speaker 1: and the highlight, like I said, is usually used as 205 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:06,160 Speaker 1: rock salt. Most table salt is created by something called 206 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: solution mining. This is where you you find a salt 207 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,840 Speaker 1: deposit on the surface and erect a well over it, 208 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 1: then inject water down into the salt to dissolve it. 209 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: You pump out the resulting brine, take it to a 210 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:22,040 Speaker 1: factory where the brine can be treated to remove any impurities, 211 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 1: and then you evaporate the water out in a vacuum pans. 212 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:30,320 Speaker 1: Vacuum pans, oh yeah, high pressure high heat attempts. The 213 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:34,560 Speaker 1: remaining salt is dried into crystals and then refined and 214 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:38,280 Speaker 1: sea salt, as you may have guessed, starts with sea 215 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:42,680 Speaker 1: water or salty lake water. Occasionally you build shallow pools 216 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: or trays, fill them with salt water and let the 217 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 1: sun evaporate the water out. When the salt reaches the 218 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:51,120 Speaker 1: right thickness for what you're going for, you harvest it, 219 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:53,760 Speaker 1: then wash and refine it to the crystal size that 220 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:56,960 Speaker 1: you want, and traditionally the harvest is done by hand, 221 00:12:57,120 --> 00:12:59,559 Speaker 1: which is why some sea salts can be very expensive. 222 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 1: Oh okay, well that's our basic intro of salts, of 223 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: this massive topic. Um but we've got a lot of 224 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 1: history for you. We do. But first we've got a 225 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 1: word from our sponsor and we're back. Thank you sponsor. 226 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:35,559 Speaker 1: All Right, here we go, salt, human history, humans, what 227 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:38,280 Speaker 1: it is. I'm still trying to figure that out. That 228 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 1: is a different podcast, But on this podcast we're going 229 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,320 Speaker 1: to talk about salt. And humans have been producing salt 230 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 1: through salts winning as far back as the Neolithic area 231 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:54,880 Speaker 1: Area area. That's a different thing the Neolithic era, but 232 00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:57,720 Speaker 1: we were gathering it from where it could be found 233 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: tens of thousands of years previous is um our. Early 234 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:05,480 Speaker 1: ancestors would follow trails to salt salt licks blazed by 235 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:09,640 Speaker 1: animals and under human feet. These paths turned into roads 236 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: with villages alongside them. At first, getting enough salt from 237 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:16,920 Speaker 1: the surface wasn't a problem, but once humanity's diet pivoted 238 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:22,000 Speaker 1: from salt rich meat two more cereals and grains, getting 239 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,200 Speaker 1: enough of the stuff grew difficult, and this made salt 240 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:29,320 Speaker 1: quite the price commodity, and it led to the creation 241 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 1: of several of the world's first major trade routes yeah 242 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,800 Speaker 1: and first major roads to um. One of the earliest 243 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 1: known instances of salt cultivation traces back to six thousand 244 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:45,760 Speaker 1: BC China at lake Lake Young Chun. During the dry season, 245 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:49,840 Speaker 1: water from the lake evaporated, leaving salt flats ripe for 246 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:54,920 Speaker 1: picking harvesting um. Several wars were fault over control of 247 00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 1: this lake, perhaps probably most definitely in part due to 248 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:01,240 Speaker 1: the salt. The first written grid of Chinese salt production 249 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:05,240 Speaker 1: surfaces around eight hundred b C, but in this writing 250 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:09,000 Speaker 1: our tales of salt production going back over a thousand years, 251 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 1: when salt gatherers would put seawater and clay pots and 252 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,720 Speaker 1: boil the water until all that remained with salt. This 253 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 1: was the same method later used in Southern Europe and 254 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: the Roman Empire. Further written records indicate that around four 255 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:28,920 Speaker 1: the Chinese were producing salt using iron pans, and the 256 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:31,560 Speaker 1: process was similar to that of the clay pot. For 257 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: the most part, early Chinese salt was used in the 258 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: making of condiments like we kind of talked about and 259 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:40,440 Speaker 1: catch up paste or sauces, including an early fermented fish 260 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:44,360 Speaker 1: and soybean sauce that was the precursor to soy sauce. Yeah, 261 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:46,520 Speaker 1: soy sauce is going to be a good topic. It is. 262 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:52,600 Speaker 1: Chinese governor Lee being figured out in two BC that 263 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:57,280 Speaker 1: the salt brine was coming from underground and instructed miners 264 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 1: to drill for the first brine wells. The workers sometimes 265 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:05,480 Speaker 1: got sick and died seemingly randomly, or an explosion or 266 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 1: shafts of fire would take out several workers at once. Um. 267 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 1: Soon whispers and rumors of evil spirits from the underworld 268 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 1: were blamed for these deaths. I think that's fair, that 269 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:22,400 Speaker 1: totally Yeah. Um. These rumors rose to such prominence two 270 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:29,520 Speaker 1: large wells gained reputations as hell Mouths Hellval's Lauren, and 271 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,640 Speaker 1: each year the local governors would make offerings to the 272 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:35,920 Speaker 1: well to keep the evil at bay. Yeah. That was 273 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:40,560 Speaker 1: probably ineffective. Oh yeah, probably, um I sent you or so. 274 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 1: Later in one people were setting fire to this invisible 275 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:49,359 Speaker 1: substance and using it for cooking, even making mud insulated 276 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: bamboo tubes situated over the holes where they knew this 277 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 1: invisible stuff was coming out to pipe it, to pipe 278 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 1: it um, and they would put it in these sheds 279 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:02,360 Speaker 1: called boyling houses. And inside these boiling houses where iron 280 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:04,960 Speaker 1: pots filled with brine which was boiled down into salt 281 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:10,120 Speaker 1: crystals with the mysterious invisible stuff. Oh wow, natural gas. 282 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:12,720 Speaker 1: Natural gas. Yeah, this was probably the first time it 283 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:16,640 Speaker 1: was ever used. Salt production also let China to develop 284 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:20,560 Speaker 1: the percussive drilling, the most high tech drilling method for 285 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 1: several centuries. So they were headed. Yeah, we're ahead. To 286 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:28,919 Speaker 1: this day, China is still the leading producer of salt. 287 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:35,159 Speaker 1: The ancient Egyptians figured out salts usefulness and preservation, and 288 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:40,800 Speaker 1: they employed their knowledge of this during mummification. Ah so 289 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:43,919 Speaker 1: cool mummies shipped down the Nile were taxed in the 290 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:51,160 Speaker 1: same category as salted meats. That's a little bit that okay, yeah, uh. 291 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 1: Tooms for rich folks going back over four thousand years 292 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:59,360 Speaker 1: have been found to contain salted birds or fish, similar 293 00:17:59,359 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 1: to what the ancient Chinese had going on. Salt was 294 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 1: gathered from lake beds or nile marshes, then combined with 295 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:07,600 Speaker 1: water and or vinegar, and then mixed with fish parts 296 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:11,560 Speaker 1: to make a fish sauce that was very, very popular. 297 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:15,720 Speaker 1: One ancient record praised, there is no better food than 298 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:21,600 Speaker 1: salted vegetables. I might agree, Oh yeah, I know. Pretty 299 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:24,360 Speaker 1: much the same process was used for preserving the mommy's 300 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:28,520 Speaker 1: The body is placed in natron, which is known as 301 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: divine salt, covered it entirely over for seventy days, never 302 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:38,159 Speaker 1: longer seventy days lorn, that's it. By two thousand, eight 303 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:42,239 Speaker 1: hundred BC, the Egyptians were trading their salted fish. The 304 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:46,040 Speaker 1: Phoenicians followed suit in eight hundred b C. China was 305 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 1: in on the salt trade game by at least eighteen 306 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: hundred BC. In sixth century b C, England towns um 307 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:56,479 Speaker 1: they England towns were formed near where salt could be found, 308 00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,359 Speaker 1: and this is where the suffix wich w I c 309 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:03,720 Speaker 1: h it comes from. Um. But at least by at 310 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:06,920 Speaker 1: least four d C, Northern Europeans were getting salt from 311 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:12,120 Speaker 1: mines near Salzburg, which translates to salt Town. I get 312 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:16,720 Speaker 1: so excited about these like words, especially yeah yeah that 313 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:21,000 Speaker 1: animalogy show someday, someday happen one day, lauren Um. These 314 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:23,960 Speaker 1: mines weren't very stable, the ones near Salzburg, and it 315 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: wasn't uncommon for miners to find perfectly preserved bodies of 316 00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:34,280 Speaker 1: their predecessors. That's a little terrifying. Rome was also built 317 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:37,120 Speaker 1: near salt and the first road they constructed to reach 318 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:39,919 Speaker 1: their salt works after they moved it a bit further away, 319 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: was named via Salaria the Salt Road. As far back 320 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:49,200 Speaker 1: as six century b C, Roman leaders controlled the salt 321 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:53,280 Speaker 1: trade in the empire, and during times of turmoil or poverty, 322 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 1: Roman officials would make sure the price of salt was 323 00:19:56,240 --> 00:20:01,040 Speaker 1: low to keep people calm, except during the Punic Wars, 324 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 1: when a high salt tax was used to fund the military. 325 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 1: The taxes based off of your homes distance from the 326 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:12,680 Speaker 1: salt mine, and the fellow who determined this was no 327 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:19,160 Speaker 1: joke called the saltanator, Saltanator, the Saltanator. I don't even 328 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:21,920 Speaker 1: have a pun prepared for this. I have a great 329 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:27,280 Speaker 1: visual in my head, but that doesn't help anybody. Well. Nonetheless, 330 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:29,399 Speaker 1: we'll work on it right right in, right in. If 331 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 1: you've got one saltanator pun um and some more etymology. 332 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,840 Speaker 1: The Roman word for salts salt is closely related to 333 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:41,199 Speaker 1: the goddess of health salace, because they would use it 334 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,080 Speaker 1: not only to preserve meats, but also to preserve your 335 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:48,399 Speaker 1: health as an antiseptic m Saul is also where the 336 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 1: word salary comes from and the word soldier. A soldier's 337 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:55,639 Speaker 1: pay used to have a salt component unless the soldier 338 00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:57,640 Speaker 1: wasn't cutting it, and his pay would be slashed because 339 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:04,000 Speaker 1: he wasn't worth his salt. This phrase also derived from 340 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,800 Speaker 1: the practice of buying slaves with salt in both Italy 341 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:12,040 Speaker 1: and Greece. Salad also comes from the Roman word for salt, 342 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:16,919 Speaker 1: because the Romans would salt their lettuce. Yeah. Salting the 343 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:20,320 Speaker 1: earth um comes from the ancient practice of military is 344 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:23,920 Speaker 1: making sure crops couldn't go back by plowing the fields 345 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:28,159 Speaker 1: with salts. Yeah um. A large salt deposits had already 346 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:31,119 Speaker 1: been mined in India prior to Alexander the Great Survival. 347 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:35,119 Speaker 1: The Aztec and Maya traded salt pre Columbus too, and 348 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:38,600 Speaker 1: before we've talked about Venice and the influence it wielded 349 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:41,119 Speaker 1: over the spice trade, and it was no different with salt. 350 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:47,240 Speaker 1: Trade with Constantinople in particular made them quite rich. Those 351 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:49,960 Speaker 1: in power and China were also doing their best to 352 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:52,680 Speaker 1: take control of the salt trade in their country. By 353 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:57,159 Speaker 1: first century C, Emperor jau D organized a group to 354 00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:00,879 Speaker 1: discuss the salt and iron monopoly, which was documented in 355 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 1: the Discord Discourse on Salt and Iron. By the first 356 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 1: century CE, salt accounted for half of the Chinese state's revenue. Yeah. 357 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:12,240 Speaker 1: By four century C, the Chinese suspected a link between 358 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:15,239 Speaker 1: iodine deficiency and gorders, so they were already they were 359 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:19,000 Speaker 1: on it. Yeah, if we look at Africa. By sixth 360 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,399 Speaker 1: century CE, Moorish traders would use salt to pay for 361 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:26,200 Speaker 1: an ounce of gold, and until ninety five, salt slabs 362 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:31,560 Speaker 1: were a currency in Ethiophiao. Marco Polos all tales of 363 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,359 Speaker 1: salt coins with Genghis Khan's face on them in twelve 364 00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:37,800 Speaker 1: but ninety five. Other uses for salt started popping up 365 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 1: in the eighteenth century, including the invention of a method 366 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:45,720 Speaker 1: to get sodium carbonate in Swo, which led to soda water. Yeah. 367 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: By eighteen fifty, that's where fifteen percent of the salt 368 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 1: in France was going. Very popular salts and high taxes 369 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:56,920 Speaker 1: on salt um. That was one of the many grievances 370 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:01,199 Speaker 1: that led to the French Revolution. Much later in the 371 00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:05,520 Speaker 1: nineteen thirties, the British solely controlled and profited from Indian 372 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:09,800 Speaker 1: salt production, and Gandhi protested by leading a large group 373 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:12,919 Speaker 1: to the coast to make their own their own salt 374 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:17,720 Speaker 1: and the Salt March to Dundee. Yeah. In eighteen hundreds 375 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:21,480 Speaker 1: of France, Napoleon called for a deep dive in the 376 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:26,639 Speaker 1: connection between goiters and iodine deficiency, which produced the first 377 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:30,480 Speaker 1: scientific evidence and led to the recommendation of Ida's salt. 378 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:36,119 Speaker 1: In eighteen thirty three, French scientist b. Courtois first isolated 379 00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:39,080 Speaker 1: iodine from I know, I said iodine, Lord, and I 380 00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:41,679 Speaker 1: have been doing this the whole time, iodine from the 381 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:44,520 Speaker 1: burnt remains of seaweed a couple of decades earlier, in 382 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:48,359 Speaker 1: eighteen eleven. The reason Napoleon pushed for this was to 383 00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 1: get to the bottom of why large swaths of men 384 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:55,439 Speaker 1: from certain regions were being rejected from military service. It 385 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:58,679 Speaker 1: would become commercially available in the States in nineteen twenties. 386 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:02,400 Speaker 1: Ida salt in early America. The first patent for salt 387 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,600 Speaker 1: production went to Massachusetts, which would continue to produce salt 388 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,840 Speaker 1: for two hundred years. The main reason the ear Canal 389 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:14,160 Speaker 1: opened was mainly to speed up the transportation of salt. Yeah, 390 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:17,240 Speaker 1: salt was such an important resource during the American Civil War. 391 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,080 Speaker 1: Any man on the Confederate side willing to work in 392 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:23,639 Speaker 1: salt production was waived of military service, particularly after the 393 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:29,000 Speaker 1: Union captured Confederate salt works. Yeah. Yeah, but lately, due 394 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:31,320 Speaker 1: to those health things we mentioned earlier, salt has taken 395 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:34,960 Speaker 1: a bit of a hit in popularity. But I would say, 396 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:40,040 Speaker 1: like fancier salt, it's way on the rise. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 397 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:42,240 Speaker 1: which is which is nice. It's nice to have options. 398 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,159 Speaker 1: It really is, it really is. So that's kind of 399 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:51,080 Speaker 1: a whirlwind of history. Yes, Yes, there's a lot a 400 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:55,359 Speaker 1: lot out there about salt. Yeah. And the reasons why 401 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:59,120 Speaker 1: salt was this important in addition to being a thing 402 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:02,679 Speaker 1: that we literally need to make our bodies work, um, 403 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 1: is that it's got a couple other really cool properties. 404 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:07,640 Speaker 1: And we will get into those after one more quick 405 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:20,160 Speaker 1: break for a word from our sponsor and we're back. 406 00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:23,959 Speaker 1: Thank you sponsor, Yes, thank you. Okay, we eat a 407 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 1: lot of salt, Yes, we've established this. Yes, but we 408 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:31,240 Speaker 1: actually use more of it to salt roads during the winter, 409 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,760 Speaker 1: We absolutely do. We do. Adding salts roads lowers the 410 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:38,720 Speaker 1: rate of accidents by over eighty which is a big deal, 411 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:43,399 Speaker 1: especially because andrew prevention aside. Snow covered roads can cost 412 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,680 Speaker 1: a state up to seven hundred million dollars a day 413 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:49,119 Speaker 1: here in the US, and like lost workforce and stuff 414 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:52,920 Speaker 1: like that. Yeah, yeah, so, um, it does have a 415 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:56,440 Speaker 1: lot of these fascinating sort of chemical properties. And I 416 00:25:56,560 --> 00:26:00,080 Speaker 1: ran across um it's like a it's a smoke be 417 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:04,359 Speaker 1: the bear esque mascot Old Salty, Old Salt. He looks. 418 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:06,320 Speaker 1: I guarantee you what you're picturing in your head is 419 00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:09,760 Speaker 1: what it is. He's got like a grizzly beard and 420 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 1: a pipe, and his slogan is never gamble and unsalted 421 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:22,000 Speaker 1: Rode old Salt, Old Salty. I think, man, if if 422 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:24,600 Speaker 1: you weren't copyright protected, which I'm sure he is, then 423 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:28,600 Speaker 1: he would be a new character in our food stuff bill. Yes, 424 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:34,600 Speaker 1: that we're building out. I cannot I cannot tell you 425 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:37,399 Speaker 1: how old salty works. But I can tell you the 426 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: reasons behind some of these chemical and physical properties. It 427 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:43,879 Speaker 1: salt has um because it really is kind of a 428 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:49,399 Speaker 1: miracle worker. When salt forms a solution with water, it 429 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:52,760 Speaker 1: changes the temperature at which the water or the solution 430 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:58,000 Speaker 1: really freezes and boils. So saltwater freezes at a lower 431 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:00,840 Speaker 1: temperature than regular water does. That s why salt is 432 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:04,000 Speaker 1: applied to roads. It forms a solution with the ice 433 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:09,440 Speaker 1: and keeps that solution liquid at below freezing temperatures. That's 434 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:11,880 Speaker 1: why you also might add salt to the ice bath 435 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:13,840 Speaker 1: that you use to chill the bowl of an old 436 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,760 Speaker 1: fashioned ice cream maker. As the salt melts the ice, 437 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:20,840 Speaker 1: the solution gets colder than it was because the physical 438 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:26,040 Speaker 1: process of melting releases heat energy. So it goes like 439 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:29,280 Speaker 1: a few like noticeably degrees colder and will therefore help 440 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:33,240 Speaker 1: your ice cream form up faster thanks salt. Ye Also, 441 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:36,760 Speaker 1: salty water boils at a higher temperature than regular water. 442 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:40,439 Speaker 1: It won't make a pot of water boil faster, but 443 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:44,399 Speaker 1: it will make it boil hotter. So if you're, for example, 444 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 1: dropping pasta into it, it's going to cook a little 445 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:49,879 Speaker 1: bit quicker, which is exactly what you want for something 446 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:52,280 Speaker 1: for like a good al dente pasta, because if you 447 00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:54,560 Speaker 1: leave it in there, it just gets zoggy. Nobody wants 448 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:59,359 Speaker 1: Nobody wants zoggy pasta. Do you remember the olive garden conundrum? 449 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:02,320 Speaker 1: All garden conundrum, that's what I'm calling it. What, No, 450 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:05,280 Speaker 1: I don't know. It was like an economic Um. I 451 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:06,959 Speaker 1: feel kind of bad for Olier, and not that I 452 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:10,159 Speaker 1: like all of them, but they weren't putting um salt 453 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:13,200 Speaker 1: in their water to boil it. And it's like such 454 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,840 Speaker 1: a basic Oh that it's such a basic Italian thing, 455 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:19,600 Speaker 1: and so right they got really dinged on it from 456 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:24,520 Speaker 1: like the Italian American community, going like you call yourselves Italian? Yeah, 457 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:27,560 Speaker 1: But also like I think there's some there's some economic 458 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: they call it the olive gardens something where they would 459 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:34,720 Speaker 1: have been saving money and producing a better product had 460 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:38,600 Speaker 1: they done this simple step. Oh, I don't want to 461 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:41,720 Speaker 1: hit on on olive gardens. Well, I kind of do 462 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:45,280 Speaker 1: much longer, so let's let's move on. Yeah. Another one 463 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:47,680 Speaker 1: of the amazing properties of salt is that it is 464 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:51,920 Speaker 1: high groscopic, which is a fancy way of saying that 465 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:57,120 Speaker 1: it attracts water molecules. Crystals of salt actually absorb molecules 466 00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 1: of water that the way that a towel does, uh, 467 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:03,160 Speaker 1: or even more hardcore than a towel does. Really, because 468 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:07,960 Speaker 1: the salt will keep absorbing water until it dissolves into 469 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,160 Speaker 1: a salt water solution. Your average bath towel will not 470 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 1: do that, ma'am. If it does, I'm not sure who 471 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:21,800 Speaker 1: you even call at that point. Ghostbusters clearly obviously, and 472 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:25,040 Speaker 1: there's not the Ghostbusters. But the hygroscopic thing is why 473 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:28,280 Speaker 1: salt is such a good preservative. Okay, I'm gonna I'm 474 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:31,560 Speaker 1: gonna unpack that a little bit. When food spoils, it 475 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:34,920 Speaker 1: means microorganisms have started eating your food before you had 476 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:38,160 Speaker 1: a chance to get to it. That a makes it 477 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:41,160 Speaker 1: gross and b makes it possibly hazardous to eat because 478 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:45,000 Speaker 1: those microorganisms might produce toxic byproducts either in the food 479 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:47,680 Speaker 1: or in your body if you if you eat them 480 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:50,880 Speaker 1: for once. This is a non triumphant cry of bacteria poop. 481 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:58,640 Speaker 1: It's like ateria pop yeah, womp womp. But those microorganisms 482 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:00,960 Speaker 1: need water to live, just just like you and me. 483 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:04,040 Speaker 1: There's a lot of water in fresh foods, and in 484 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:08,000 Speaker 1: chemistry this is measured in what's called the product water activity. 485 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:11,160 Speaker 1: It's it's a number that signifies how many free water 486 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:15,160 Speaker 1: molecules are present in the given food. Many fresh foods 487 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:18,320 Speaker 1: have around point nine nine water activity. If you lower 488 00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 1: that to point nine four, most disease causing bacteria cannot grow, 489 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:26,320 Speaker 1: and around point nine one most any bacteria cannot grow. 490 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:28,440 Speaker 1: Molds are a little bit hardier. You you've got to 491 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:32,200 Speaker 1: go below like point eight zero. Uh. But you can 492 00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:36,200 Speaker 1: achieve this through salt curing. When you put salt on 493 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:39,560 Speaker 1: a food, it'll draw water molecules out of the food 494 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:42,960 Speaker 1: until it forms a salt water solution. The solution will then, 495 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:46,680 Speaker 1: via the process of osmosis, work to balance the molecules 496 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:49,800 Speaker 1: of salt inside and outside of the food, meaning that 497 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:52,480 Speaker 1: salt goes in and water goes out to the surface 498 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:56,760 Speaker 1: where it can evaporate. Salt also messes with microorganisms in 499 00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:59,640 Speaker 1: another way. It can disrupt the activity of their enzymes 500 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:03,000 Speaker 1: and even weakend the molecular structure of their DNA, which 501 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:06,880 Speaker 1: makes it pretty hard for them to like thrive and reproduce. Yeah, 502 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:10,240 Speaker 1: I imagine, so, yeah, it's not good. I keep thinking 503 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 1: about this. That Seinfeld episode where George's dad he he 504 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 1: was like a chef for the army in Vietnam, and 505 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:21,680 Speaker 1: he he got this shipment of bad meat and he 506 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:23,800 Speaker 1: was trying to hide that it had spoiled, and he 507 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:26,480 Speaker 1: put like so much salt and seasoning on it, and 508 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,560 Speaker 1: then everybody got sick. And he, you know, he was 509 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:31,920 Speaker 1: having like flashbacks, was playing. It was some movie. I 510 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:35,440 Speaker 1: haven't seen that they were parenting, but it's stuck with me. 511 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:40,520 Speaker 1: I bet it was Apocalypse. Now probably it probably was 512 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:45,160 Speaker 1: further research different things, but we do have a little 513 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:47,760 Speaker 1: bit more about um. One of the things I really 514 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:51,840 Speaker 1: wanted to know as salts connection to religion and superstition. Yeah, yeah, 515 00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:53,520 Speaker 1: it's not just a well I mean, I'm not the 516 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:55,840 Speaker 1: only one who would call it a miracle worker. No, no, 517 00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:59,959 Speaker 1: you're not. Throughout history, salt has held an almost super 518 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:05,440 Speaker 1: natural importance. According to Homer, salt was divine, and I 519 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:11,440 Speaker 1: said that was such a like Plato called it a 520 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:16,200 Speaker 1: substance dear to the gods. From the Bible Leviticus to 521 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:21,720 Speaker 1: with all thine offerings, thou shalt offer salts. There's also, 522 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:24,760 Speaker 1: of course, ye are the salt of the earth, which 523 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:28,480 Speaker 1: denotes the worthy members of the Christian flock and the 524 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:30,959 Speaker 1: biblical story of lot Um. He and his family are 525 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:33,880 Speaker 1: fleeing the city of Sodom and he they're all instructed 526 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:37,280 Speaker 1: to never look back, but lots doubtful wife did just 527 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:42,040 Speaker 1: that and turned into a pillar of salt. Ah later though, 528 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:46,160 Speaker 1: salt seemed to get back in Christianity's Good Book. Oh, 529 00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:49,040 Speaker 1: I was so proud of myself when I wrote that. 530 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:52,400 Speaker 1: I was like, Eddie, you're really you're really making it 531 00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:56,080 Speaker 1: work today. Um. In early room, salt was placed on 532 00:32:56,080 --> 00:33:00,000 Speaker 1: the lips of an eight day old infant baptismal ceremony, 533 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:02,720 Speaker 1: which evolved to the placing of a salt morsel in 534 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,120 Speaker 1: the baby's mouth to make sure the whole thing really 535 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:08,440 Speaker 1: took good. Yeah, because it's a preservative. The Jewish people 536 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:11,320 Speaker 1: saw it as a symbol of the everlasting covenant between 537 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:15,760 Speaker 1: God and Israel, and the salt as a purifier thing. 538 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:18,640 Speaker 1: Is probably where the trope you see in horror and 539 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:22,040 Speaker 1: supernatural entertainment of making a circle of salt are placing 540 00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:24,440 Speaker 1: salt at the doors and the windows, and this will 541 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:29,320 Speaker 1: protect you from malevolent ghost or spirits. Um Buddhism and 542 00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:32,640 Speaker 1: Shinto is Um holds similar beliefs about the cleansing aspects 543 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:36,479 Speaker 1: of salt. In the Shinto right of sumo wrestling, a 544 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:38,400 Speaker 1: handful of salt is tossed into the center of the 545 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:42,560 Speaker 1: ring before the wrestlers enter, and for Buddhist tradition, salt 546 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:45,520 Speaker 1: is tossed over the shoulder before returning to your home 547 00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:47,960 Speaker 1: after a funeral to get rid of any evil spirits 548 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:51,080 Speaker 1: that are writing on your back. Salt tossing goes on 549 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:52,960 Speaker 1: in these Yeah. I think I think there's gonna be 550 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:56,520 Speaker 1: another one in a second. Yeah. And I totally forgot 551 00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:58,440 Speaker 1: it until I was doing this research that my mom 552 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:05,080 Speaker 1: gave me a purifying Himalayan salt lamp for Christmas. This. Yeah, 553 00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:09,080 Speaker 1: I like it. It's pretty. Yeah. Yeah, lames are beautiful. 554 00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:14,280 Speaker 1: Yeah yeah. In Ozark superstition, it's a widely held belief 555 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:18,479 Speaker 1: that the devil hates salt, and therefore which is eat 556 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:23,719 Speaker 1: very little salt, so people would observe how much and 557 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:26,160 Speaker 1: if you weren't eating that much salt, it could be 558 00:34:26,200 --> 00:34:32,560 Speaker 1: in some serious trouble. I don't know. Eventually this religiosity 559 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:37,799 Speaker 1: took on a more supernatural aspect. You would cry over 560 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:42,960 Speaker 1: spilled salt, for example, because it meant impending doom. Leonardo 561 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:46,600 Speaker 1: da Vinci even depicted this in his painting of the 562 00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:51,480 Speaker 1: Last Supper with the Spilled Salt Seller. And yeah, um, 563 00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:53,560 Speaker 1: I didn't know that's what that was. And then I 564 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:56,640 Speaker 1: read this. While I'm reading what I wrote, I wrote 565 00:34:56,680 --> 00:34:59,560 Speaker 1: this thing that I read, Oh my gosh, um to 566 00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:02,160 Speaker 1: just batch this bad omen the subject of the spilled 567 00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:04,480 Speaker 1: salt with pinch some between the fingers and toss it 568 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:07,080 Speaker 1: over the left shoulder. The left side was where all 569 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:10,319 Speaker 1: the bad spirits were hanging out anything, and you could 570 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:12,920 Speaker 1: get worse things in bad spirits. I'm going to guess 571 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:15,319 Speaker 1: that's where the tossing the salt over the shoulder for 572 00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:17,520 Speaker 1: good luck or the word off bad luck comes from. 573 00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:22,040 Speaker 1: But I never found anything definitive about that. And a 574 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:24,480 Speaker 1: further note about the salt seller, which is sort of 575 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:29,240 Speaker 1: a tub for salt. Until the late eighteenth century, according 576 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:33,319 Speaker 1: to Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Book of Etiquette, social status at 577 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:37,040 Speaker 1: banquets was determined by where the guests sat in relation 578 00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:41,880 Speaker 1: to the usually very fancy silver salt feller. Yeah, so 579 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:44,160 Speaker 1: the host and any distinguished guests were seated at the 580 00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:48,160 Speaker 1: head of the table or above the salt The further 581 00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:51,480 Speaker 1: below the salt you were, the less important you were, 582 00:35:52,239 --> 00:35:54,640 Speaker 1: and you might as well just go home. Man at 583 00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:56,400 Speaker 1: the other end of the table, deally noted, if I 584 00:35:56,440 --> 00:36:00,399 Speaker 1: ever want to deliver a really good like like can burn, 585 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:04,319 Speaker 1: no one gets it, but in your head, you're like, 586 00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:10,680 Speaker 1: they'll never know. Um. There are a couple of theories 587 00:36:10,719 --> 00:36:13,680 Speaker 1: about where the phrase grain of salts comes from, one 588 00:36:13,719 --> 00:36:17,880 Speaker 1: involving our old friend Plenty. Yeah. His writings described a 589 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:20,880 Speaker 1: recipe for a poison that called for a grain of 590 00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:25,480 Speaker 1: salt two as an antidote um, meaning you can take 591 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:28,880 Speaker 1: the threats of being poisoned less seriously or with a 592 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:34,120 Speaker 1: grain of salts. Yeah. A different version of the story, 593 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:39,600 Speaker 1: Roman general POMPEII allegedly would swallow small portions of a 594 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:43,040 Speaker 1: bunch of different poisons in an effort to make himself immune, 595 00:36:43,239 --> 00:36:45,520 Speaker 1: and instead of a spoonful of sugar, he used some 596 00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:50,799 Speaker 1: salt to help beat poison go down. Yeah. Sure, prove 597 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:54,120 Speaker 1: the taste of anything. Um. It could also be a mistranslation, 598 00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:56,919 Speaker 1: and Latin it could translate to either with a grain 599 00:36:56,960 --> 00:37:01,000 Speaker 1: of salts or with a grain of wit. Yeah. That 600 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:03,239 Speaker 1: actually makes a lot more sense than any of those 601 00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:06,560 Speaker 1: other things. Probably is that I feel really silly, now, 602 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:13,120 Speaker 1: don't feel silly, Lauren um. As for the phrase salty um, 603 00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:16,680 Speaker 1: meaning irritated, it dates all the way back to nineteen 604 00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:20,760 Speaker 1: thirty eight, but it was first submitted to Urban Dictionary 605 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:24,040 Speaker 1: in two thousand two. It's more modern usage is thought 606 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:29,600 Speaker 1: to have originated in online gaming communities. Yeah, cheers to 607 00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:32,480 Speaker 1: whoever brought that one back. Yeah, I know, I'm like, 608 00:37:34,440 --> 00:37:38,000 Speaker 1: Aside from religion, there are so many fairy tales with salts, 609 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:40,640 Speaker 1: almost all of which having some aspect of salt being 610 00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:44,680 Speaker 1: worth as much as, if not more than, gold, or 611 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:47,440 Speaker 1: why the seas are salty? It usually involves some kind 612 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:51,480 Speaker 1: of revenge. Yeah. So if you're interested in food and 613 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:56,239 Speaker 1: stuff fairy tales about salt, they are out there. More 614 00:37:56,080 --> 00:38:01,359 Speaker 1: more fairy tales for our story, our perfect Yes, okay, great, 615 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:04,959 Speaker 1: make make a catalog and a couple of days ago 616 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:08,279 Speaker 1: for Laura and I not probably for you listening. Probably not. 617 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:11,000 Speaker 1: That's a weird time thing that happens with podcasting. Laura 618 00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:13,200 Speaker 1: and I we we got going on food stuff field trip. 619 00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:16,919 Speaker 1: So it's so great. So many opportunities around Atlanta, Yeah, 620 00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:19,480 Speaker 1: they are there are um and we got to go 621 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:24,520 Speaker 1: visit beautiful Brinie Cee where they make salts and also 622 00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:28,560 Speaker 1: blends and other dry goods. Oh yeah, sprinkles, sugar. Yeah, 623 00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:31,800 Speaker 1: it was lovely. We got to talk to the founder, Susie. 624 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:34,040 Speaker 1: She was fantastic, and we got to tryal out of salt. 625 00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:37,560 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, eleven different kinds of salt, seven kinds of salt, 626 00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:39,759 Speaker 1: and four blends. It was really great. It was great 627 00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:43,319 Speaker 1: to hear someone so passionate talk about salt like it 628 00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:45,080 Speaker 1: was why and that was my favorite part. Oh yeah, 629 00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:47,359 Speaker 1: or like a like a perfume, like a perfumer would 630 00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:49,920 Speaker 1: discuss different cent notes. So so yeah, so so we 631 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:55,399 Speaker 1: have some of that interview for you to listen to. Um. Alright, Hi, 632 00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:58,600 Speaker 1: who who are you? Cz Sheffield? I have a company 633 00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:04,520 Speaker 1: called Beautiful Bernie See and uh Atlanta's Historic Grant Park. Um, 634 00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:07,480 Speaker 1: and you guys produce a whole bunch of salt blends 635 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:11,759 Speaker 1: and sugar blends and sprinkles and dragons is a way 636 00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:13,680 Speaker 1: I like to think of it. So I've always been 637 00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:17,280 Speaker 1: involved in food at actually at a restaurant for seventeen years, 638 00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:21,080 Speaker 1: and when I moved back to Atlanta, my hometown, I 639 00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:23,120 Speaker 1: knew I didn't want to have a restaurant, and I 640 00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:27,239 Speaker 1: tried to think of the most shelf stable venture UM 641 00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:29,960 Speaker 1: where it could still work with fresh ingredients and farmers 642 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:32,960 Speaker 1: in local markets, and so salt seemed to be a 643 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:37,279 Speaker 1: perfect starting point. And it's actually become a palette to me, 644 00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:40,279 Speaker 1: so a way to kind of express things and a 645 00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:44,600 Speaker 1: boat flavors that I want or create items that kind 646 00:39:44,600 --> 00:39:48,400 Speaker 1: of tell a story. So I'm like slightly salt overwhelmed. 647 00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:52,160 Speaker 1: Right now. We're sitting here in front of a spread 648 00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:56,040 Speaker 1: of UM. It looks like you've got four salt blends 649 00:39:56,080 --> 00:40:01,360 Speaker 1: and I can't count six types. Six we bring in. 650 00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:04,399 Speaker 1: It's sort of like a laboratory back there. Any any 651 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:06,920 Speaker 1: type of salt, anything that I read about, anything that 652 00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:08,360 Speaker 1: I find, you know, we just kind of bring it 653 00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:11,640 Speaker 1: in and figure out it's it's like where it hits 654 00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:15,440 Speaker 1: on a salt scale, and then what it's finishes. So UM, 655 00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:17,200 Speaker 1: but we use the salt that I use in all 656 00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:20,200 Speaker 1: of our blends. It's an Atlantic Ocean salt, the waters 657 00:40:20,239 --> 00:40:24,439 Speaker 1: harvested off the coast of Brazil. It's solar evaporated and UM. 658 00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:27,400 Speaker 1: I like it because it's slightly salt forward, but it 659 00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:31,000 Speaker 1: has an immaculately clean finish, so it just picks up 660 00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:36,120 Speaker 1: anything you blend with it, so honestly, so that's salts 661 00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:41,600 Speaker 1: unsalted and only a little bit salty. Yeah, I was. 662 00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:44,440 Speaker 1: I really enjoyed the research on this one. It was 663 00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:48,880 Speaker 1: a lot. But oh yeah, so many fascinating weird like 664 00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:51,480 Speaker 1: salting mummies. You never know what you're going to run across. Yeah, 665 00:40:51,560 --> 00:40:54,200 Speaker 1: and I definitely. I was having cocktails with co workers 666 00:40:54,239 --> 00:40:55,799 Speaker 1: last night and did the thing where I was like, 667 00:40:55,880 --> 00:40:57,520 Speaker 1: can I nerd out to you about this thing that 668 00:40:57,560 --> 00:41:00,520 Speaker 1: I just learned because it's really cool, and they're like, okay, 669 00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:07,040 Speaker 1: we'll give you two minutes. Everyone. Everyone is usually pretty tolerant. No, Yeah, 670 00:41:07,040 --> 00:41:10,760 Speaker 1: we work in an office where generally everyone has something 671 00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:14,640 Speaker 1: like that. They're going to tell you that salt and 672 00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:20,920 Speaker 1: it brings us to listener. Man. Yeah, that was inquisitive, 673 00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:24,040 Speaker 1: but I like it. Yeah, because we weren't sure, wait, 674 00:41:24,040 --> 00:41:27,200 Speaker 1: wait what was going to happen? And you could hear 675 00:41:27,239 --> 00:41:32,759 Speaker 1: it in our tone. So Elizabeth wrote Annie's reminiscing about 676 00:41:32,760 --> 00:41:36,120 Speaker 1: her elementary school celebrating St. Patty's Day gave me vague 677 00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:40,080 Speaker 1: memories of elepri cons destroying the classroom, not sure if 678 00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:44,080 Speaker 1: that actually happened, if that was just the power of suggestion. Anyway, 679 00:41:44,239 --> 00:41:46,759 Speaker 1: what I do remember vividly is in second grade we 680 00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:50,480 Speaker 1: made lepri Con traps. They were made with green construction paper, paper, 681 00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:53,400 Speaker 1: towel tubes, shoe boxes, gold, glitter, et cetera. Most of 682 00:41:53,400 --> 00:41:56,239 Speaker 1: it involved using a pot of gold and some sort 683 00:41:56,320 --> 00:41:58,880 Speaker 1: I'm going to assume that's not a real pot of gold, Elizabeth, 684 00:41:59,080 --> 00:42:02,879 Speaker 1: and some sort of calling net covered pit that the 685 00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:06,120 Speaker 1: unwitting leverri Con would get trapped in trying to get 686 00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:09,120 Speaker 1: to the gold. I remember my teacher telling us that 687 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:11,759 Speaker 1: Lepricrons did not like to follow rules, so they were 688 00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:15,080 Speaker 1: often signs saying things like no chests passing and no 689 00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:18,920 Speaker 1: gold here. To reverse psychology, the lepri Cons into folly 690 00:42:19,040 --> 00:42:21,799 Speaker 1: for our traps. When it came back from recess on St. 691 00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:24,680 Speaker 1: Patty's Day, there would be rollos in our chests, but sadly, 692 00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:27,920 Speaker 1: no lefricans. I had totally forgot about this and to 693 00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:30,600 Speaker 1: listen to the Corby episode, So thank you for sparking 694 00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:33,600 Speaker 1: that delightful memory. That is a delightful memory that is 695 00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:37,360 Speaker 1: that I love the reverse psychology signs and this idea 696 00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:39,760 Speaker 1: like we're going to trap some libri cons today kids 697 00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:44,359 Speaker 1: are pretty great, So yeah, I would have been into it. Yeah, 698 00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:46,680 Speaker 1: and I like all I'm a I'm a big crafter, 699 00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:51,280 Speaker 1: so I would have been all about this. H Sky wrote, 700 00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:54,960 Speaker 1: So the reason I am writing is a peanut butter, 701 00:42:55,120 --> 00:42:58,680 Speaker 1: mayonnaise and pickle sandwich on whole wheat bread. My grandmother 702 00:42:58,719 --> 00:43:01,320 Speaker 1: claims to be the inventor of the sandwich. In her words, 703 00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:03,760 Speaker 1: it is the perfect balance of sweet from the peanut 704 00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:06,359 Speaker 1: butter and salt from the pickle. I'm not sure how 705 00:43:06,400 --> 00:43:09,160 Speaker 1: the mayo fits in, though I might be her only customer, 706 00:43:09,200 --> 00:43:11,480 Speaker 1: but since she started me young, this has become one 707 00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:14,240 Speaker 1: of my favorite comfort foods. To this day, I always 708 00:43:14,239 --> 00:43:18,120 Speaker 1: have a jar of lastic deal pickles, peanut butter, canola oil, mayo, 709 00:43:18,360 --> 00:43:21,320 Speaker 1: and or wheat whole wheat bread arnold here on the 710 00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:25,360 Speaker 1: East Coast. On hand, you might actually know my grandmother 711 00:43:25,480 --> 00:43:29,640 Speaker 1: Cloras as Mama Granny gam Gam or Frell Blucker. She 712 00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:32,520 Speaker 1: has been a huge influence on me and a TV 713 00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:35,760 Speaker 1: grandmother four millions of others. I thought I would share 714 00:43:35,800 --> 00:43:38,120 Speaker 1: our favorite weird food with you and let you know 715 00:43:38,239 --> 00:43:40,640 Speaker 1: that this little sandwich has a prime spot in the 716 00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:43,880 Speaker 1: kitchen of a celebrity. Well, we have to try an 717 00:43:43,880 --> 00:43:45,680 Speaker 1: awl or we really do. I mean, I was, I 718 00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:50,480 Speaker 1: was convinced beforehand, but that frail blucker from Young Frankenstein, 719 00:43:50,520 --> 00:43:54,279 Speaker 1: which is yeah, I if if she likes it, I'm 720 00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:58,000 Speaker 1: in yeah, no questions asked. Absolutely, We've got to make 721 00:43:58,040 --> 00:44:01,879 Speaker 1: this happen and we will and we will we will. 722 00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:05,840 Speaker 1: So thank you so much to them for writing in Yes, 723 00:44:05,960 --> 00:44:09,719 Speaker 1: and also thank you to everyone who's sending pictures of 724 00:44:09,719 --> 00:44:13,719 Speaker 1: your pets with food names. They are the light of 725 00:44:13,719 --> 00:44:17,280 Speaker 1: my entire life, I know, and it's so fun to like, randomly, 726 00:44:17,360 --> 00:44:20,919 Speaker 1: when you're with someone go exclaim with the lights because 727 00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:23,400 Speaker 1: I do. I'll yeah, wherever i am, I'll get that. 728 00:44:23,440 --> 00:44:25,399 Speaker 1: I'll get an email and go like oh oh, and 729 00:44:25,440 --> 00:44:27,879 Speaker 1: then make whoever i'm with look at pictures of pets. Yes, 730 00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:31,239 Speaker 1: so please keep them coming. You can email us our 731 00:44:31,320 --> 00:44:33,480 Speaker 1: emails food Stuff at how stuff works dot com. You 732 00:44:33,480 --> 00:44:36,440 Speaker 1: can also find us on social media. We're on Facebook 733 00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:39,319 Speaker 1: and Twitter at food Stuff hs W and we are 734 00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:42,400 Speaker 1: on Instagram at food stuff. We hope to hear from you. 735 00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:45,920 Speaker 1: Thank you so much to our super producer, Dylan Fagin, 736 00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:49,200 Speaker 1: Yes you, Dylan. Thanks again to our guest Susie from 737 00:44:49,239 --> 00:44:52,239 Speaker 1: Beautiful brian E C. Thanks to you for listening and 738 00:44:52,320 --> 00:44:56,719 Speaker 1: we hope that lots market things are coming your way.