salt-msg – 11/29/11

Medieval salt production and use.

NOTE: See also the files: salt-comm-art, spices-msg, herbs-msg, commerce-msg, travel-msg, stockfish-msg, p-spice-trade-msg, mining-msg.

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    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: caradoc at neta.com (John Groseclose)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period salt--??
Date: Sat, 09 Nov 1996 23:53:49 -0700

HPGV80D at prodigy.com (Patricia Hefner) wrote:
> Does anybody have any information on salt in period? The only thing I 
> know about it was that is was bloody expensive and it is cognate with our 
> word "salary".  Where was it made, and how? I may attempt a  paper with 
> this topic if I can find the damn sources. Yours in Service, Isabelle de 
> Foix, Shire of Misty Mere, Meridies

Somewhere around here I've got documentation for salt mines working in
Poland in period. Most coastal areas would probably have used the method
of filling shallow pools or bowls with sea water, then letting it dry.


From: "Dana J. Tweedy" <tweedyd at emh1.pa.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period salt--??
Date: Sun, 10 Nov 1996 13:09:51 -0800

In the book "Food in History" by Reany Tannhill(sp?), there is some 
information on salt and how  it was produced in period,  Mostly either 
mining or by salt pan evaporation.  The salt pans produced an inferior 
product, full of waste materials, but it was much cheaper than the salt  
from the salt mines.

                Karl Rasmussen of Tvede


From: david.razler at postoffice.worldnet.att.net (David M. Razler)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period salt--??
Date: Mon, 11 Nov 1996 00:28:57 GMT

"Dana J. Tweedy" <tweedyd at emh1.pa.net> wrote:

| In the book "Food in History" by Reany Tannhill(sp?), there is some 
| information on salt and how  it was produced in period,  Mostly either 
| mining or by salt pan evaporation.  The salt pans produced an inferior 
| product, full of waste materials, but it was much cheaper than the salt  
| from the salt mines.
| 
|                 Karl Rasmussen of Tvede

Questionable:

"World's Finest Salt"

'We first became aware of Fleur de Sel when Food Arts, our favorite
professional food magazine, touted it as the "caviar of salt." From Brittany,
on the coast of France, Fleur de Sel is harvested in minute quantities by
hand, during the months of July and August (the same 300 families have been
harvesting this salt for centuries.) It's gathered from the surface of the sea
where it forms when the sun shines, the wind's from the east, and the humidity
is low. Sometimes only a few hundred pounds a year are harvested. At other
times, several tons are harvested. And what's it like? Well, it has an
unusual, moist (yet not clumpy) texture, and a fine pure flavor. French chefs
recommend using it as a condiment, not an ingredient; a bit of pain de
campagne, spread with butter and gilded with Fleur de Sel, is the ultimate
appetizer. We offer it in 3-oz. jars, available only while the supplies last
(as we write this time the 1996 harvest isn't yet complete, so we're not sure
of quantities). .... $12.95

<The Baker's Catalog/King Arthur Flour, winter '96-7 p 15>

The same page offers kosher salt <large-flake non-iodized plain salt> at
$1.25/lb, medium-flake sea salt "... evaporated from seawater; it's higher
mineral content gives it a bit of added nutrition, as well as a distinctive
taste," 1 lb/$2.65. Kosher salt, or more properly kashering salt, used for
preparing kosher meat, sells for only a few cents more than plain old iodized
or non-iodized mined salt.

Filtering seawater before allowing it to dry and later washing of the salt
(dissolving and re-dehydrating) should produce a nice, clean product.

                                dmr

David M. Razler
david.razler at worldnet.att.net


From: jeffs at bu.edu (Jeff Suzuki)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period salt--??
Date: 11 Nov 1996 18:02:09 GMT
Organization: Boston University

Patricia Hefner (HPGV80D at prodigy.com) wrote:
: Does anybody have any information on salt in period? The only thing I 
: know about it was that is was bloody expensive and it is cognate with our 
: word "salary".  Where was it made, and how? 

Then (as now) your two major sources would be saltwater brines
(usually from the seacoast) and mines.  As a rule of thumb, Germanic
"Sal" towns (Salzburg is the most obvious) had salt mines in the
vicinity.  Smithsonian magazine a few months ago had an article on the
salt mines of some town in Czechoslovakia where they had crafted an
entire underground city (including a cathedral -- !).  Let me see if I
can dig up the references.

Jeffs/William


From: "Dana J. Tweedy" <tweedyd at emh1.pa.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period salt--??
Date: Mon, 11 Nov 1996 21:08:43 -0800

David M. Razler wrote:
> 
> campagne, spread with butter and gilded with Fleur de Sel, is the ultimate
> appetizer. We offer it in 3-oz. jars, available only while the supplies last
> (as we write this time the 1996 harvest isn't yet complete, so we're not sure
> of quantities). .... $12.95
> 
> <The Baker's Catalog/King Arthur Flour, winter '96-7 p 15>
> 
> The same page offers kosher salt <large-flake non-iodized plain salt> at
> $1.25/lb, medium-flake sea salt "... evaporated from seawater; it's higher
> mineral content gives it a bit of added nutrition, as well as a distinctive
> taste," 1 lb/$2.65. Kosher salt, or more properly kashering salt, used for
> preparing kosher meat, sells for only a few cents more than plain old iodized
> or non-iodized mined salt.

     It just goes to show that if you call something "gourmet" and slap a 
high price tag on it, some sucker will buy it.  Seriously though, 
although it is possible to get a superior salt from seawater evaporation, 
in practice sea salt is not as good for preservation.  According to 
Tannahill, sea salt has a high magnesium and calcium content, which has 
"...such a deleterious effect on preservation processes". (quoted from 
"Food in History").  The saltpans of the Bay of Bourgneuf produced a salt 
that was often polluted with sand, seaweed, and other debris.  It's only 
advantage is that was much cheaper.  Food preserved with this salt, 
(again according to Tannahill,) would often spoil because it would not 
penetrate into the food quickly enough.
     Salt could also be obtained from salt springs, by evaporation, but 
it was about twice as expensive as "Bay Salt".  Salt from mines was 
probably the best quality, but the most expensive.

                            Karl Rasmussen of Tvede


From: Deloris Booker <dbooker at freenet.calgary.ab.ca>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period salt--??
Date: Tue, 19 Nov 1996 14:15:58 -0700
Organization: Calgary Free-Net

On 15 Nov 1996, Patricia Hefner wrote:
> I heard something about that "salt cathedral" in the Czech lands myself 
> awhile back,  but I can't remember where. I'll look for the book, but I 
> just may go to the friendly local Netscape browser and see what they have 
> to say about salt! ---Isabelle

re: the salt cathedral.  The National Geographic for Dec. (the one that
arrived last night anyway) has  3 pictures taken in the "salt chapel" in
one of the News sections of the magazine ( ie not a main article).
Apparently, warm moist air that is pumped into the mine for the continued
good health of current miners is damaging the salt carvings, so a project
is underway to install Dehumidifying equipment in the relevant and
afflicted sections of the mine.

Ya learn something new everyday, don't ya?

Aldreda of the Lakes (D. Booker Blue Castle Books, Calgary AB )


From: medievalbk at aol.com
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period salt--??
Date: 24 Nov 1996 05:42:50 GMT

There is a multiple page article on SALT in the DICTIONARY OF THE MIDDLE
AGES.  Topic in the index: trade, antiquity, bay salt, duties, Eastern
Europe, ecconomic, Germany, Hansa, monastic control, Polish mining, and
even salted Herring.

Vilyehm the Merchant
G. F. Armoury Books
medievalbk at aol.com


From: StCurrie at ix.netcom.com (Steven Currie)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period salt
Date: Tue, 10 Dec 1996 01:14:16 GMT

 You may want to do some research on a salt mine in Poland.  There was
an article in one of the Smithsonian magazines within the last year or
two.  This is what I remember. There is a very large salt mine in
Poland that was mined from either the 1100's or 1300's.  A "grant of
production" was given from the King of Poland to the town.  He
received somewhere around 33% of the revenues to his treasury.  As I
remember, it is still being mined for salt.

Lord Etienne of Burgundy
Barony of Calafia
Kingdom of Caid
(Steven Currie)


From: dwbutler at mtu.edu (Daniel W. Butler-Ehle)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period salt
Date: 10 Dec 1996 19:15:40 -0500
Organization: Michigan Technological University

Steven Currie (StCurrie at ix.netcom.com) wrote:
:  You may want to do some research on a salt mine in Poland.  There was
: an article in one of the Smithsonian magazines within the last year or
: two.  This is what I remember. There is a very large salt mine in
: Poland that was mined from either the 1100's or 1300's.  A "grant of
: production" was given from the King of Poland to the town.  He
: received somewhere around 33% of the revenues to his treasury.  As I
: remember, it is still being mined for salt.

This month's "National Geographic".


From: jfideli at newshost.li.net (Fideli)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: period salt
Date: 27 Dec 1996 21:27:46 GMT
Organization: LI Net (Long Island Network)

Greetings any and all who were interested in this topic..

It was posted to me to check into the salt mines of poland.  Well to show 
my begining research.  I could not find it in the national geographic.. 
but this may be an oversight on the comp list....I did however find a 
large spread in Lapidary Journal feb95 and in Smithsonian march 94 on the 
Wieliczka salt mine.
        I have to say quickly and before deep reasearch. that I still 
belive that the inpact of salt mining was not great until the 17cent.  I 
am now looking into the ecomonic and political factors that may have 
played a part in this.  It is a fact that getting salt from the sea is 
easier that from a mine with all its hasards.
        It is an intersting side note that the area of this mine (just 
outside of krakow) was always in poland, even with the shifting borders of 
our period.
        I will keep the list informed of any updates...however my article 
(haveing been rewritten , since Caraidoc found an error on my part) is a 
very well documented look at salt in period. Again I offer to any who wish 
to see it.  I might send it to TI, (after researching the mines of poland, 
italy, germany, france and britan) after finishing my reasearch.

                    Lord Xaviar the Eccentric
                 Man of a Thousand Persona,..Etc
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gules, on a chevron between in chevron a cleaver and a cleaver
reversed and in base a satyr Rampant Or, six cauldrons sable!


From: dietmarrvs at aol.com (DietmarRvS)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: period salt
Date: 10 Jan 1997 02:44:36 GMT

>I have to say quickly and before deep reasearch. that I still belive that the
>inpact of salt mining was not great until the 17cent.  I am now looking into 
>the ecomonic and political factors that may have played a part in this. It is a 
>fact that getting salt from the sea is easier that from a mine with all its
>hazards.

I think you may be mistaken as to how easy it is to get salt seawater . 
Seawater is only about 3 percent salt on average.  In order to get salt
from the sea, you need large tracts of flat land close to the sea
(preferrably in the intertidal zone) and an elaborate system of canals to
flood the land.  On top of that, you also need a climate that is sunny and
warm enough to evaporate off the water at an appreciable rate.  Most of
Europe doesn't have the climate for it.

As for salt mining, there are many mines still being worked today that
were known in antiquity.  My Encyclopaedia Britannica says:

"The rocks of Permian age contain some of the largest rock-salt deposits
in the world.  The most important are the Zechstein deposits of Germany,
long exploited not only for their common salt but for their potassium
content.  The salt deposits of the sub-Carpathian region extending from
Poland through Hungary and Rumania may be of this age.  In the Donetz
basin and the Volga region of European U.S.S.R. are extremely important
deposits of Permian rock salt...."

"The Triassic of England contains important rock-salt deposits which have
been worked for many years.  In the Tyrol the Triassic strata also contain
important salt deposits...."

"Another type of rock-salt deposit which is economically important is the
salt dome....Similar domes in the sub-Carpathian region of Europe have
been worked since ancient times.  The north German plain has many domes,
extensively worked, which are thought to have originated below 6,000
feet."

One of the most historically important salt mines in Europe is the town of
Halle (modern Swabische-Halle) in Germany.  It was a salt center of
importance to the Germanic  tribes before Charlemagnes son Charles erected
a fort there in 806.  The salt works is mentioned in a charter by Otto I,
conveying the place to the Diocese of Magdeburg in 968.  The family of
Frederick Barbarossa gained prominence because of their ancestral control
of salt mines in this region and throughout Swabia.

Another source to check out is the "De Re Mettalica" by Georgius Agricola.
 First published in 1556, it is now available in paperback from Dover (I
paid $17.95) ISBN 0-486-60006-8  This was the first book on mining to be
based on field research and observation and contains numerous detailed
technical drawings illustrating the various specialized techniques of
mining.  There are about ten pages that deal with salt, both drying it
from seawater and mining it from deposits.  It also discusses the various
minerals that can be extracted and their uses for metallurgy and alchemy. 
There are also historical references to the work of Pliny.  This book
would be a great source for your research.

Hope you get some help from this.
Dietmar


From: jfideli at newshost.li.net (Fideli)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Period Salt again
Date: 9 Jan 1997 05:20:26 GMT
Organization: LI Net (Long Island Network)

Greetngs  to  those who asked about this.

        I went back over my research to see why I left out salt mines... 
It was for many reasons the main one being that they did not have any 
major influence on the salt trade. They were harder to get at, many were 
not mines in period but were brines, because of the flooding.  They also 
did not have access to the larger deposits of rock salt.  If you wish more 
information Email me at <jfideli at suffolk.lib.ny.us>

                    Lord Xaviar the Eccentric
                 Man of a Thousand Persona,..Etc
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gules, on a chevron between in chevron a cleaver and a cleaver
reversed and in base a satyr Rampant Or, six cauldrons sable!


From: jfideli at newshost.li.net (Fideli)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: period salt
Date: 10 Jan 1997 21:20:54 GMT
Organization: LI Net (Long Island Network)

I dont mean to appear rude but MY intial comments were correct, Sea water 
or brine extraction was the major source of salt throughout our period, 
many of the mines  that were "used from antiquity" were flooded during the 
middle ages and were used as brines . thus the the method of boiling off 
the salt was in use at these sites as well as by the shore.

One of my main books on this is
        Multhauf, Robert P.; Neptunes's Gift. The Johns Hopkins Univ. 
Press. London. 1978. Isbn 0-8018-1955-5

Yes, Seawater is 3.5 percent solution of salts of which 2.5 percent is 
sodium chloride.  Halle was a salt brine nearly satureated with salt 25.5 
percent.  But most brines were weaker than seawater and owed their 
advantage to the cheapness of fuel and their proximity to the intended 
market.

The African Salt deposits were not discoverd by the Medieval Europeans.

Most of the true mines in Europe during our time period were either 
flooded or not large in their percentage of salt to extraneous rock, some 
were even believed to have been worked out, that is until mining got better.

I have De re Metallica, I am rather anal about research.

Xaviar


Date: Fri, 1 Aug 1997 06:05:27 -0500 (CDT)
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com (Elise Fleming )
Subject: SC - Salt and Foam

Stefan, I believe, commented about cooking the fish that salt and water 
(being boiled together) don't cause foam.  Actually, in period they 
probably did.  The salt had a number of impurities in it and would need 
to be skimmed off.  Ditto for sugar!  That still wouldn't negate how he 
decided to cook the fish but I thought I'd toss in my two cents before 
I go spend them at Pennsic tomorrow morning.

Alys Katharine


Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997 10:53:27 -0400
From: Aine of Wyvernwood <sybella at gte.net>
Subject: Re: SC - period suerkraut?

ANN1106 at aol.com wrote:
> I would like to hear more, when you do your research.  What we think is just
> common sense (a good housewife preserving her cabbage) is not always the
> case!  First of all, the brining process needs salt - which I don't believe
> was very available to all classes.  It was, at one time so precious, that the
> Romans gave their soldiers a "salt allowance" (hence the word "salary).
> The Polish also store shredded cabbage in barrels of salted water throughout
> the winter.
> Audrey (ann1106 at aol.com)

my lady, many years ago, I read an article in Scientific American, in regards to
the availability of salt during the late roman early middle ages period.
There was at thriving salt market in the Baltic region.
Huge sea salt beds in northern germany and in the normandy, belguim region as
well.  Salt was readily available,  for a price.

btw, just as we call the english Limies for thier partaking of Limes in the
ships.
The Germans became known as Krauts for the exact same reason.

aine


Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 15:25:08 -0400
From: Aine of Wyvernwood <sybella at gte.net>
Subject: Re: SC - salt mines

they also had a thriving industry making salt from sea water.  I distincly
remember reading an article in Scientific American years ago about that.
Seems that about the time of the first major ''barbarian'' invasions south to
Rome, there had been a global warming.   The oceans had risen a few feet and
flooded the salt beds on the norther German coast,  The barbarian tribes moved
south in search of salt, and ended up sacking Rome.
aine


Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 15:11:19 -0400
From: "Marilyn Traber" <margali at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Timeline of Food

The earliest
known salt mine is IIRC the Halstatd mine in Gernamy somewhere. The only
reason this springs readily to mind is my interest in early Celtic history,
and La Tene [ a lake settlement] and a graveyard and garbage midden in the
Hallstadt mine are the earliest groups to use the decorative motives
commonly ascribed to Celts. If memory also serves me, there were findings of
the breceltic Beaker culture also in the aea, so that would end up dating
settlement to abour 4000 BC or so. With the discovery of various trade goods
from the Hallstadt region on the southern side of the Alps, I dont have any
problem in any form of salt trade well into periods predating classical
medeterranean culture.
margali


Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 15:13:58 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Timeline of Food

Hallstatt is in the Salzkammergut near Salzburg, Austria.  Seems to me, the
Celtic archeology of the area dates from about 1000 BC, making it one of the
oldest sites found.  The salt was being mined at that time.

You can reach Munich by following the Inn out of the Salzkammergut and then
crossing the to the Danube.  However, why would Munich become the center of
the salt trade in 1158, when it is obvious the trade has been in existence
for 2000 years?

Hah, quick ref answer, Munich was founded in 1158.  It became the de facto
center of an already existing trade in Northern Europe.  The whole thing
makes me wonder if the monks weren't into salt distribution as well as beer.

Bear


Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 00:52:54 EDT
From: WOLFMOMSCA at aol.com
Subject: Re:  Salt mines

Halstatt was mined from the 10th century BC, according to archaeological
findings in the region.  It's actually in Austria, in a region known as the
Salzkammergut (gee, go figure).  There are over 2000 tombs, containing corpses
perfectly preserved, with all their goods.  Backpacks, earthenware pots, picks
and other mining tools, etc.  The French had Arc-et-Senans, with salt works
built by Louis XV's architect Ledoux, but having a long history of salt making
before that "modern" works was built.

Wolfmother


Date: Tue, 05 Jan 1999 17:50:32 -0900
From: "Reia M. Chmielowski" <kareina at eagle.ptialaska.net>
Subject: Re: SC - a Salty story

At 15:47 1/5/99 , Elysant wrote:
>"La Baliene Sea Salt is from the clear blue Mediterranean.  Evaporated to a
>sparkling white by sun and sea breezes.  It is then washed in more clear
>Mediterranean sea water...The French, as fussy about health as they are about
>food, make great claims for the rare salts contained in Sea Salt".
>
>Is this a lot of marketing hype then and nothing more?  It seems to taste a
>bit different from the regular salt.

Sea water contains (in order of concentration) oxygen, hydrogen, chlorine,
sodium, magnesium, sulfur, calcium, potassium, and a bunch of other stuff.
As it evaporates various "salts" precipitate out of it due to the increased
concentration of those ions.  The most common of those salts is halite
(NaCl), or what we call table salt.  Another salt is sylvite (KCl), which
has a more bitter flavor.  I don't remember right off hand what the order
of precipitation is, but if seawater is allowed to completely evaporate
then you will have a collection of different salts.  Each one precipitates
in turn, based on the concentration of ions remaining in the solution.

When oceans are evaporating on a large scale they tend to precipitate one
salt at a time for long periods.  As time goes on you can get many meters
thickness of one salt or another.  As geologic conditions change these
layers can get buried under other layers of sediment, and eventually get
compressed enough to turn into rock (lithification).  If this package of
rock is then uplifted and becomes part of the continent it may be mined.
Because of the thickness of each layer it is possible for the miners to
obtain a product that is just halite, or just sylvite, or whatever.

Therefore I suspect that the "healthful" attributes of sea-salt stem from
the fact that there are more minerals present...

Kareina (a geologist, can you tell?)


Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 22:14:17 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Salt

Mordonna22 at aol.com writes:
<< I have a question or two - to start with, where did period cooks get
 their salt from?  >>

Food in History has extensive information on salt mining including descriptions
of mines, trade routes, etc. Salt really was no different in the MA than it is
now except for the exclusion of iodine and anti-caking agents. However, that
is not a real problem since a few grains of wheat or rice in the salt
shaker will eliminate caking.

Ras


Date: Sat, 6 Feb 1999 17:40:51 -0600
From: LYN M PARKINSON <allilyn at juno.com>
Subject: Re: SC -  salt

The January issue of _Smithsonian_ magazine has an article on salt, which
we talked about recently.  A few period references: Civilizations rose in
Africa, China, India and the Middle East around rich salt deposits.
Salt bought slaves and at times was traded at a value twice that of gold.
Marco Polo discovered that Tibetans used salt cakes stamped with the
imperial seal of the great Kublai Khan as money.
When Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 B.C. he found the natives making
salt by pouring brine over hot sticks and scraping off the leftover
glaze...he always traveled with "salinators" who were skilled at making
salt for his troops.  Those experts showed the...Brits how to boil brine,
as the Romans had been doing for centuries.
The basic methods of salt production haven't changed for centuries--boil,
evaporate, mine....Tuareg salt caravans in the Sahara...
Beginning about A.D. 1000, Timbuktu, established by the Tuareg nomads on
a branch of the Niger River, became a major trading center where for
centuries salt was bartered for gold.  ...the salt was hewn right out of
the earth.

There are references to salt's use in religion, health, trade, etc. from
2000 B.C. China to today, most of the article concerning salt production
here in the USA.  Very interesting.

Allison
allilyn at juno.com, Barony Marche of the Debatable Lands, Pittsburgh, PA
Kingdom of Aethelmearc


Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 23:10:57 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - pepper

> >Looking in Waverly Root's Food, the comment is made that Horace thought the
> >perfect general seasoning was black salt and white pepper.  Horace lived in
> >the 1st Century BCE, so white pepper should be in period.
>
> What is black salt?
>
> Faoiltighearna

It is a type of salt that was mined in India in Antiquity.  I know nothing
about its composition, but I suspect that it was regular salt with a high
percentage of manganese compound impurities.

Bear


Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 21:30:02 +1200
From: Phil Anderson <hairy at sloth.southern.co.nz>
Subject: SC - Salt

Some days ago, Ras wrote:
>Platina, IIRC, doesn't use salt in his
>recipes but gives a warning or to not to use too much salt.

Platina does in fact specifically list salt as an ingredient in a number
of recipes, but also writes (Book VII, 21) "I say nothing about salt,
since almost no food is made without it." (p 361 in Milham). I take that
as a fairly solid indication that it's reasonable to add salt to taste.

Edward Long-hair
Southron Gaard, Caid


Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 20:02:38 -0800
From: haku-jin at ns.net
Subject: [FTF] Salt in North Africa

Hi, I'm new to this list but follow many others and can't believe that
I missed the announcement when this one started up. I've just finished
reading the archives and followed the salt discussion with relish. What
I'm surprised wasn't mentioned was the salt trade flowing out of the
Sahara into the Meditteranean countries and Central Africa. The salt
was/is mined directly out of the earth in the middle of the Sahara by
political prisoners and slaves. Huge beds of rock salt. They were cut
out of the ground by hand in very large slabs. The Tuareg caravans
would supply the miners and administrators with food, water (if the
caravan was late, the miners often were found dead) and gold and in
turn would move the salt. Much of the salt moved south into Central
Africa because that was where it could be traded measure for measure
for gold. Worth his weight in salt in this instance also meant worth
his weight in gold.

The Tuareg didn't value gold but did understand what it meant to other
people. They used the gold to expand their caravans and power over the
trade, raiding competing interests and establishing themselves as the
dominant force in North African trade during the MA through the
colonial era. Ever hear of Timbuktoo? It was a well on the salt route
eventually turned into a very wealthy center of higher learning, having
the largest Muslim university of its time.

Jason Baker


Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 00:35:09 -0400
From: "Bethany Public Library" <betpulib at ptdprolog.net>
Subject: Re: SC -spice and economics

>Isn't there a reference somewhere which indicates Roman soldiers were paid
>for their labors in salt?  Or is this just another one of those "histories"
>we learn in school, which have no basis in the "real world"?
>
>Balthazar of Blackmoor

Try, as mentioned in a previous post, *Bread and Salt*, for lots of salt
related trivia including manufacture. I'm reasonably certain the Roman
Soldier-Salt connection is documented there.

I love the salt references that have come down to us through language, too:

Salty Dog (sexually rude or verbally explicit man)
Worth his salt (valuable person worth feeding expensive spices)
Rub salt in the wounds (painful, but also expensive, so used for the
worst --or possibly lowest fallen--criminals)
Above the salt (the rank of the person denotes worth, re: seating with
access to the salt)

Aoife


Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2000 22:14:18 EDT
From: Morgana Abbey <morgana.abbey at juno.com>
Subject: SC - Re: Lucanian sausage from Platina

[Talking about what seemed to be a high proportion of salt to meat (1:10)
in some period Lucian sausage recipes]

I remember reading a report about how lead poisoning causes an inability
to taste salt.  The people writing the article said the recipes they were
working with came from  a region where lead poisoning was common, and
yes, they were unbearably salty.

Could this be a possibility for the sausage problem?

Morgana


Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 18:27:59 -0700
From: "James F. Johnson" <seumas at mind.net>
Subject: SC - Re: Sea salt

"Laura C. Minnick" wrote:
> I have never heard of sea salt causing migraines (odd, since I've had
> them for more than 20 years). It sounds as though the chemical
> composition varies- what is in/not in sea salt that makes it different
> from the standard Morton's? And could iodine be causing the bitterness
> reported in standard table salt?

Typically, there is a higher mineral content to sea salt than table
salt. I know _sel de Guerande_ from the salt marches of Brittany has
trace amounts of clay from the marsh bottoms. Gives it a grey colour.

Seumas


Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 19:29:10 -0700
From: "James F. Johnson" <seumas at mind.net>
Subject: Re: Sea salt, was SC - Adaptation from Apicius for jerking meat

Once source states that table salt is 99.9% NaCl, with the remaining
0.1% being iodide and non-caking agents, such as calcium silicate and
sugar (the sugar might have some preservative effect on the iodide as
well). Sea salt is supposed to be 95-98% NaCl, with the other 5-2% being
trace minerals from the sea. This includes sulfur as a sulfite, but it
didn't mention sulfides, nor actual amounts/percentages of the various
minerals. There were a lot.

Seumas


Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 00:50:57 -0700
From: "James F. Johnson" <seumas at mind.net>
Subject: SC - Re: Sea salt

Trying to find out the mineral content of sea salt on the Web is mostly
turning up companies that sell sea salt as an alternative to table salt.
One actually gave some numbers. Redmond Minerals, in Redmond, Utah, USA,
mines their salt from a Jurassic age sea deposit. They say it contains
over the various deposit:

Sodium Chloride	98.32%
Calcium             .40%
Potassium           .12%
Sulfur		  .11%
Iron			  .06%
Phosphorus		  .05%
Iodine		  .002%
Manganese		  .0015%
Copper		  .001%
Zinc			  .0006%

Generally, the tone is there are 72-84 minerals in sea salt, whether
evaporated or mined from a sea deposit, including sodium and chlorine
(NaCl). The commercial refining process removes all these except the
NaCl. If it's the 5% sold for food consumption, anti-caking agents are
added, possibly the sugar for taste, and potassium iodide to prevent
goiter. 

Seumas


Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 10:25:59 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jenne Heise <jenne at mail.browser.net>
Subject: Re: SC - period salt

One of the major exports from Poland was mined salt; evaporated salt was
exported from Russia. A Salt mine in Wieliczka was said to have been
worked by the 12th century (UNESCO says since the 13th); apparently it is
still being worked in addition to allowing tours. (Bored miners have, over
the centuries, carved chapels, statuary, and other massive decorations in
the upper parts of the mine, which can no longer be worked because
removing the remaining salt would cause the roof to fall in!)
I believe Bohemia and parts of Hungary had working salt mines that
pre-date the Wieliczka mine.

_Bread and Salt_ has an excellent chapter on the Salt Extraction industry
in period and just-post-period Russia. (Bread and Salt: A social and
economic history of food and drink in Russia. R.E.F. Smith and David
Christian. (NY: Cambridge University Press, 1984).)  

- -- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise jenne at tulgey.browser.net


Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 21:32:16 -0400
From: margali <margali at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: SC - grey salt

you can get assorted salts at kingarthurflour.com
margali

also assorted flours, assorted forms of sugar and way nifty baking
goodies


Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2000 03:00:22 -0600
From: "Scholast Michel" <Scholast at bookwyrm.com>
Subject: Re: SC - grey salt

On 20 Oct 2000, at 16:56, James F. Johnson wrote:
> Nisha Martin wrote:
> > Where do you find this type of salt? I have heard of
> > grey salt for years, and never seen it. Is it much
> > more expensive than sea salt?
>
> I've never seen it that I recall. Just read about it. The grey salt I
> mentioned comes from Brittany, so it would have to be exported. I'm not
> sure who else makes a grey salt. If I find some, I'll post the source.

Francesco Sirene, spicer

http://www.silk.net/sirene/spices.htm

Item 0430 BLACK SALT - lumps
    From India, this has a stronger flavour than ordinary salt. Black 
salt might be just the thing for the 'lower tables' at a feast, to show 
their reduced status by contrast with the pure white salt served in 
the Great Salt at the head table. Powder the lumps in your mortar.
                                   25 g           .40
                                   500 g          7.20
All prices in Canadian funds


Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2000 23:43:38 +0100
From: TG <gloning at Mailer.Uni-Marburg.DE>
Subject: SC - period salt

The differences between mined salt and salt evaporated from the sea
_might_ have reasons that are not so much chemical in nature but that
have to do with the different techniques involved. Jean-Claude Hocquet,
in his book about the history of salt, gives a vivid picture of the
different techniques to produce salt and of the considerable technical
problems involved. The basic trick is the same: NaCl has a different
saturation-point than the other kinds of salts (the impurities) in the
water. Now, it seems to me, that it was easier to control the
crystalization of the different salts in the process of boiling salt
than in the process of evaporating salt near the sea, where sun and wind
played a major role.

Hocquet says, that in the 15th and the 16th century boiled salt was of
superior quality and that some types of grey and impure sea salt were
boiled afterwards to improve their quality. In addition, he says that
the lothringian salt boilers were able to produce several kinds of
salt, all different in quality and graining, by varying the
parameters of the boiling process.

- -- Jean-Claude Hocquet: Weisses Gold. Das Salz und die Macht in Europa
von 800 bis 1800 [white gold; salt and power in Europe from 800 to
1800]. Stuttgart 1993. -- Includes a bibliography with exactly 500
titles on various aspects of the production, the use and the economics
of salt.

In case you don't read German, stick to the original ("Le sel et
le Pouvoir", Paris 1985) in French ... ;-) I don't know if the book was
translated into English.

Thomas


Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2000 21:47:02 EDT
From: Devra at aol.com
Subject: SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #2711 - grey sea salt

Seems to me that this was one of the bizaare, exotic items being sold by Gold 
Mine Natural Food Co (organic, strange, & ethnic foods our specialty) in 
their last year's catalog.  They're also the people who offered teff...

- --EGAD! Here is their catalog on the bottom shelf!  They offer:
    Fleur de sel, the flower of the ocean
    Celtic coarse light grey sea salt: "As seawater concentrates in the 
shallow ponds, large crystals form on the clay bottom. The art of the 
Paludiers is to collect as much salt as possible with the least amount of 
clay...   Also offered in fine salt
    Lima French Atlantic sea salt
    Eden sea salt
    Muramoto's "balanced minerals" sea salt
(God, I didn't realize there were that many things to say about salt....But 
there's a new  book I'm supposed to be getting from Johns Hopkins Press 
called "Neptune's Gift", about you guessed it....)
    Gold Mine Natural Food Co
    7805 Arjons Dr
    San Diego CA 92126-4368
    1-800-475-3663 
They MIGHT be on-line or have an email address by now, since I'm referring to 
last year's catalog.

Devra the Baker, finally back after Pennsic
Devra Langsam
www.poisonpenpress.com


Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 11:51:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jenne Heise <jenne at mail.browser.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: Sea salt

> > If they were near the coast, probably so.  If they were inland, there
> > were salt mines, like the large one in Germany.
> Seems one of the technical requirements for a evaporation industry is a
> clay rich soil to form the very smooth evaporation ponds with. 

Not necessarily. Russian salt evaporation was done in large metal basins.
- -- 
Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise	      jenne at tulgey.browser.net


Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2002 14:29:13 -0500
From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
To: "sca-cooks at ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Salt-- new books

There has been a number of postings regarding
the subject of salt of late... be it oversalting
or undersalting today's feast dishes
and below salt/above salt/price of salt/use of salt
inquiries and comments.

There are two new books on the subject.
Salt. Grain of Life. by Pierre Laszlo.
Translation of Chemins et savoirs du sel[1998]
by Mary Beth Mader. New York: Columbia University
Press, 2001.Notes, but no index or bibliography sections.

and

Salt. A World History. by Mark Kurlansky. Walker and
Company, 2001. This is by the author of Cod and is featured
in the new issue of Saveur number 56.

A 1996 publication that might also be of interest is:
Neptune's Gift : A History of Common Salt.
(John Hopkins Studies in the Hist of Tech, New Series 2)
by Robert P. Multhauf. Reissue edition (September 1996)
Johns Hopkins Univ Pr; ISBN: 0801854695

Johnnae llyn Lewis  Johnna Holloway


Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2002 14:29:13 -0500
From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
To: "sca-cooks at ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Salt-- new books

There has been a number of postings regarding
the subject of salt of late... be it oversalting
or undersalting today's feast dishes
and below salt/above salt/price of salt/use of salt
inquiries and comments.

There are two new books on the subject.
Salt. Grain of Life. by Pierre Laszlo.
Translation of Chemins et savoirs du sel[1998]
by Mary Beth Mader. New York: Columbia University
Press, 2001.Notes, but no index or bibliography sections.

and

Salt. A World History. by Mark Kurlansky. Walker and
Company, 2001. This is by the author of Cod and is featured
in the new issue of Saveur number 56.

A 1996 publication that might also be of interest is:
Neptune's Gift : A History of Common Salt.
(John Hopkins Studies in the Hist of Tech, New Series 2)
by Robert P. Multhauf. Reissue edition (September 1996)
Johns Hopkins Univ Pr; ISBN: 0801854695

Johnnae llyn Lewis  Johnna Holloway


Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2002 21:48:19 -0500
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: ranvaig at columbus.rr.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Black salt (was Intro and question)

>IIRC, "black salt" is halite (regular sodium chloride) with manganese
impurities that give it the black color.

I checked a dozen or so Indian cookbooks laying around here and
couldn't find anything specific.  I've used it and it doesn't taste
like regular salt.

http://www.geocities.com/herbalexporter/miniral.htm
BLACK SALT, SANCHAL SALT
SODIUM SULPHATE MIXED WITH SODIUM CHLORIDE  KALA NAMAK

http://gourmetsleuth.com/saltguide.htm
Black salt named Kala Namak in India, is really a blend of minerals
characterized by a strong sulfur odor.  It is commonly used in snack
foods in North India.

Ranvaig


Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2003 09:56:28 -0700 
From: "Harris Mark.S-rsve60" <Mark.s.Harris at motorola.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] gourmet sea salt
To: "SCA-Cooks maillist (E-mail)" <SCA-Cooks at ansteorra.org>

The whole idea of getting salt from different regions and that you could taste the difference still astounds me but here is a website with more different types of sea salt in one place than I've seen before. The fact that you could make money doing this astounds me less.
http://www.saltworks.us/index.asp

I guess if you had the money you could put together a salt tasting party. Some of these seem to be processed with methods similar to those done in period, even from the same regions, maybe from the same salt pans. Some crystals are in a pretty raw state, much as they would have been in period and you can see the different crystal sizes and colors in their photographs.

One comment that amused me about one of the Sicilian salts was "The combination of different minerals and the naturally low percentage of sodium chloride in Ravida sea salt give it a delicate taste and plenty of flavor without being too strong or salty.". A naturally LOW precentage of sodium chloride??? But yes I guess there are actually other salts than the salt generally spoken of when we talk of table salt.

Oh, and for those that have a really big feast coming up, or want to salt their herring or cod catch in a period way, some of these salts are available in 55 pound bags.

Stefan


Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2003 22:38:16 -0500
From: Avraham haRofeh of Sudentur <avrahamharofeh at herald.sca.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] gourmet sea salt
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

On Thu, 4 Dec 2003 09:56:28 -0700, Mark.s.Harris at motorola.com wrote:
> The whole idea of getting salt from different regions and that you could
> taste the difference still astounds me but here is a website with more
> different types of sea salt in one place than I've seen before. The fact
> that you could make money doing this astounds me less.
> http://www.saltworks.us/index.asp
>
> I guess if you had the money you could put together a salt tasting party.
> Some of these seem to be processed with methods similar to those done in
> period, even from the same regions, maybe from the same salt pans. Some
> crystals are in a pretty raw state, much as they would have been in
> period and you can see the different crystal sizes and colors in their
> photographs.

Cook's Illuistrated did a tasting of salts in Sept 2002. They concluded that
sea salts are best saved for use at the table, where the delicate nuances of
flavor variation and, in particular, their special crunch can best be
savored. They found that the largest crystals won the most points when
sprinkled on a steak - Maldon Sea Salt won that round of tests. In cooking,
they found little or no variation in flavor when used in a liquid cooking
medium. They actually downgraded the sea salts in baked goods because of
poor dispersal - getting a "crunch" of salt in the middle of a biscuit 
isn't anyone's idea of good food.
****************
Avraham haRofeh of Sudentur
      (mka Randy Goldberg MD)


Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 20:46:22 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookbooks and historical food references
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

> 5) Roman to current day salt making along the shores of Aigues-Mortes.
>
> Sharon

Aigues-Mortes (Dead Waters)

Founded in 1241 by Louis IX of France on land purchased from Psalmody Abbey
(of 5th Century origin and built on the site of an earlier Roman ruin).  It
marks France's first direct access to the Mediterranean.  Louis helped  start
and expand the current salt trade, claiming 1/7 of the proceeds as his share. The city walls were completed about 1300 and shortly thereafter the access to the sea silted up.

Salt production in the region (the Camargue or Rhone delta) is by evaporation of sea water in salins (earth tanks).  This is probably the same method used by the Roman engineer Peccaius, who was responsible for setting up Roman salt production in the region (don't ask for a date on him, I haven't found one).  The area came under Roman control in the 1st Century BCE and I didn't find it mentioned in Pliny, so the salt production may be later than 79 CE.

There is apparently evidence of salt production and trade with the
Phoenician in the area.

Bear


Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2004 17:21:29 -0700 (PDT)
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Interesting medieval food article
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

-----Original Message-----
From: "Kai D. Kalix" <kdkalix at gmx.de>
>> Medieval food was bland.

> Yes, it was. At least for peasants, and for noblemen, too, I suppose, if
> there wasn't a feast going on. Spices were way expensive. OK, you can always
> season with herbs. But if salt is equal in price with gold, everyday-food
> will be bland (at least to modern palates).
-------------------------

Mustard.  Garlic.  Horseradish.  Verjus/vinegar.  And, as you mention, 
herbs.

I'm not an expert on the economics of salt, but take a look at the 
chart on this page:
http://www.economics.utoronto.ca/munro5/SPICES1.htm
In 15th century England, a pint of salt cost half a penny, at a time 
when a mason earned 6-8 pence per day.  For comparison, the same chart 
says that a gallon of milk or a pint of butter cost a penny, and a 
chicken cost five pence.  I think salt was well within the means of the 
working class.

I don't know what salt prices were like elsewhere.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom


Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2006 13:14:20 -0500
From: "Lonnie D. Harvel" <ldh at ece.gatech.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Making Salt
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Sharon Gordon wrote:
> Has anyone experimented with making salt?
> Did you boil the water out or use natural evaporation?
> Was it hard to find clean enough sea water?
>
> Sharon
> gordonse at one.net

Mechanical evaporation (i.e. distilling the water out) is usually only
used with solution mining. Solar evaporation is usually used in the
production of Sea Salt.

You can find just about everything you want to know about modern (and
some historical) salt production at:
http://www.saltinstutute.org


Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2006 13:36:56 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Making Salt
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

We went to the salt pans off the Slovenian coast
back in 2004. They date back centuries.

I bought some packages of the salt to bring back.
http://www.slovenia-tourism.si/?naravne_znamenitosti_jame=906
http://dragonja.nib.si/Secovlje/index.html
http://www.uvi.si/eng/slovenia/photos/landscape/012/index.html

There are books that describe the process, but you have to buy those
in Slovenia.

Johnnae


Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2006 18:49:14 -0500
From: "Katherine Throckmorton" <kthrockmorton at lycos.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Making Salt
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

I would recommend reading _Salt:A world history_ by Mark Kurlansky  
which goes into great detail about the methods used to obtain salt at  
different times and in various places.  He is quite specific about  
what methods were used in a given area, so it would be quite easy to  
work out the method best suited to your area.
The bibliography is also quite extensive, if you want or need to  
track down additional references.
BTW, _Salt_ is also worth reading for the culinary history, as a  
great deal of the book deals with the trade in various salt-cured  
foodstuffs.  I now know more about the Basque whaling and the whale  
bacon industry than anyone should ;)

-Katherine


Date: Tue, 04 Sep 2007 09:33:35 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cheese fat? - LOOONNGG!
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Sep 4, 2007, at 2:59 AM, Stefan li Rous wrote:

> It sounds like you are using the regular salt for the initial curing/
> rind creation? Then how do you use the flavored salts? Do you smooth
> these onto the rind or mash them into the rind some? The dry salting
> stage is what starts the rind creation, right?
>
> I took a look at the various flavored salts, including various smoked
> salts, that Auntie Arwen had at her shop at Pennsic, but really
> didn't buy any since I didn't really know how I would use them, and
> thus which ones to buy. For the same reason I didn't buy any of her
> spice mixes. I guess there is always mail order.
>
> Anyone know if we have any evidence of flavored salts being
> specifically used in period? We know that some salts, such as the sea
> salts from France, were known to full of dirt and other contaminants,
> but that is different.

I don't think I've run across salts being specifically flavored by
design, but there are a number of late English sources -- Digby,
Plat, the usual suspects (and presumably others) with instructions on
how to purify salts (mostly by some form of heat treatment or by
distillation).

What I can attest to first-hand is that one should never use Indian
black salt in sausages ;-).

Adamantius


Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2007 17:05:48 -0400
From: ranvaig at columbus.rr.com
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Black salt Re:  Cheese fat? - LOOONNGG!
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

> What I can attest to first-hand is that one should never use Indian
> black salt in sausages ;-).

Black salt needs to be used sparingly, and is not generally a good  
replacement for regular salt.  I've usually heard of it used in fruit  
salads and raitas (yogurt salads).  If you replaced regular salt with  
black salt, was it too much?  Or did the flavor not work with the  
other spices?  Or was it just not good on meat?

Ranvaig


Date: Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:29:09 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Black salt Re:  Cheese fat? - LOOONNGG!
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Sep 4, 2007, at 5:05 PM, ranvaig at columbus.rr.com wrote:

>> What I can attest to first-hand is that one should never use Indian
>> black salt in sausages ;-).
>
> Black salt needs to be used sparingly, and is not generally a good
> replacement for regular salt.  I've usually heard of it used in
> fruit salads and raitas (yogurt salads).  If you replaced regular
> salt with black salt, was it too much?  Or did the flavor not work
> with the other spices?  Or was it just not good on meat?
>
> Ranvaig

It seemed much "saltier" than an equal mass of, say, sea salt or
kosher salt, and I suspect what made it really bad for sausages was
the compact nature of the meat and the casings. I repeatedly
corrected the seasoning with all the other ingredients _except_ salt
(including meat), and even after this it seemed to grow saltier-
tasting over time (no, these were not big crystals slowly dissolving
or anything like that). But in addition there were sulfurous fumes,
which, in an open dish or pan of something well-ventilated, would not
have been a long-term problem, but these were like stink-bombs when
cut into.

It just wasn't a good match, and there's probably a good reason why
India is not known for charcuterie and Germany for colored salts in
cooking. I don't ordinarily believe in letting the inanimate objects
win -- it keeps me awake at night -- but this was one case where the
simplest and best solution just seemed to be to not do that again.

A.


Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:58:44 -0700
From: Susan Fox <selene at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Searching for Salt in bulk
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

charding at nwlink.com wrote:
<<< I and my cheese making partner are looking for refined kosher salt in bulk.

We recently discovered that the cheese salt that we are using is made by
ADM (Arthur Daniels Midland) which is a not so good thing. We would rather
not send our money to them.

When I say in bulk, we use about 160 pounds of salt in a season.

Maeva in An Tir
(Olympia, WA) >>>

How about Redmond RealSalt, do you have any objection to them?  Look here:
http://www.realsalt.com/shop/bulk_kosher_realsalt.cfm

just googling "kosher salt bulk" popped that and many other companies to 
fill your needs.

Selene


Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2008 15:05:49 -0700
From: "Dan Brewer" <danqualman at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Searching for Salt in bulk
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Sea salt is available in bulk.  google bulk salt .. It is listed from 50
cents a pound up to 30 dollars a pound.

Dan in Auburn


Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:11:37 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Has anyone held a salt tasting?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Mar 11, 2009, at 12:35 PM, Audrey Bergeron-Morin wrote:
<<< Just one: Do not, do not, do not, use Indian black salt in pork sausages. It is very bad and will exact a terrible vengeance upon you. >>>

Now you *have* to tell the story...
-----------

Dead men tell no tales.

Seriously, though, my experience was that, either due to the salt  
itself, and any impurities that may add to its character, or perhaps  
to chemicals in the meat itself (which was pork), when reacting with  
the salt, created a pretty powerful hydrogen sulfide whiff. The  
sausages, which were otherwise unremarkable and made with great care,  
frankly stank. I hoped that the fumes would dissipate in cooking. They  
didn't.

My feeling was that the whole point of making sausages was to put  
things into intestines, with a view toward the final product going in  
the general direction of the consumer's intestines.

A constant and powerful reminder of (more or less) what comes *out of*  
intestines would seem to me to be the antithesis of the sausage- 
maker's art.

I won't be able to look at an Elizabethan recipe for Fartes of  
Portingale in the same way again.

Adamantius


Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:25:37 -0500
From: Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Indian black salt
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

Adamantius said:
<<< Seriously, though, my experience was that, either due to the salt
itself, and any impurities that may add to its character, or perhaps
to chemicals in the meat itself (which was pork), when reacting with
the salt, created a pretty powerful hydrogen sulfide whiff. The
sausages, which were otherwise unremarkable and made with great care,
frankly stank. I hoped that the fumes would dissipate in cooking. They
didn't.>>>

Ok, this makes sense looking at the Wikipedia entry for "Indian black  
salt".

"Chemically, black salt is sodium chloride, with iron, sulfurous  
compounds and trace minerals."

So yes, that would be the source of the hydrogen sulfide you smell.  
Frankly, it doesn't sound like a good salt for any food. But the  
entry further says "Black salt ... is used as a laxative and  
digestive aid. It is also believed to relieve intestinal gas and  
heartburn." and "Black salt is appreciated by vegans in dishes that  
mimic the taste of eggs". Rotten eggs?

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           


Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:21:16 -0400
From: Audrey Bergeron-Morin <audreybmorin at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Indian black salt
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

> vegans in dishes that mimic the taste of eggs". Rotten eggs?

Not really. Even fresh eggs smell somewhat. I know a lot of kids (and
adults too) who would never, ever bring a hard-boiled egg sandwitch to
school for lunch because of the smell. If the odour is not too strong
it would mimick the smell of real eggs, especially hard-boiled.


Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:40:40 EDT
From: Moramarsh at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Indian black salt
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

Indian Black Salt is also sold as non edible black salt.  It is a  blend of 
charcoal & salts . It is used for making incense and to reduce the  effects of 
poison. Think ingesting activated charcoal and then pumping the  stomach.  As 
with asafoetida, it sometmes finds itself into the spice rack. 

In the new faddish salts of the world, there is a black salt listed.  It is a 
smoked natural sea salt. It is quite dark in color and not like the  Incense 
black salt.  

Do you think some of the historical recipes could have smoked the salt??

Mora


Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 07:49:38 -0600
From: Susan Lin <susanrlin at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Indian black salt
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

I have some smoked black salt.  I was going to use it to make jerky.  Never
got around to the jerky but still have the salt.  The smell is so powerful I
have to wrap it in extra layers to keep the smell from permiating everything
else in that drawer.

Shoshanna


Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2009 12:14:26 -0400
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcarrollmann at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Colored Salt
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 11:32 AM, Deborah Hammons<mistressaldyth at gmail.com> wrote:
<<< Are there documented examples of the
other color salts (not ones that were colored intentionally) used in period?
Aldyth >>>

Le Menagier has a recipe for preserving eels with black salt.
http://medievalcookery.com/cgi/display.pl?lmdp:376

There is a black salt used in India, so called because of the mineral
content that colors it.  I suspect that the Goodman means unrefined
salt (why waste the more expensive stuff where it won't be seen?)

Brighid ni Chiarain


Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2009 14:58:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: Spices at Spicewells <spicewells at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Colored Salt
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Though I haven't done a lot of research on period colored salts, I can relate the following: 

Himalayan pink salt is actually mined pink without external influences. The salt deposit has a large amount of trace mineral that lends the color. 
The black Indian salt is more greyish pink/purple, usually, and has a high sulfur content, which lends to an affinity for eggs.? I've heard from several people it was somewhat an unexpected odor when cooked.

Black sea salt, coming from either Hawaii or Cyprus, is actually evaporated with activated charcoal, hence the color is an additive. So, too, the red Hawaiian sea salt, known as Alea, is evaporated with a large amount of red, iron oxide-rich clay.
Grey Sea Salt is sometimes evaporated in green clay lined pools which imbues the greyness to the salt, so the color is an additive process.

One good source you might like is www.Saltworks.US.
Caitriona Mac Dhonnachaidh
Spicewell's


Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2009 17:50:35 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Colored Salt
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Pliny references black salt.  I believe in this case the color was produced 
by manganese in the salt.

Bear


Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:36:41 +0200
From: "Susanne Mayer" <susanne.mayer5 at chello.at>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Colored Salt
To: <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Living in Austria from prehistoric times to just OOP you would have either 
to refine the salt or import sea salt to get white salt, as the natural rock 
salt (mined in Hallstatt (hall means salt) and in a lot of other places in 
and around Salzburg (again salt,...) and the tyrolean alps comes in various 
shades of brown.

Later all salt was refined and white, nowadays the slow food gourmets go 
back to natural unrefined rocksalt (I have some at home). Himalaya rock salt 
is pink in various degrees. I also have black salt (with natural carbon)

Kathraina


Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:31:11 -0400 (EDT)
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Colored Salt
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

<<< I was looking up a bug bite itchy remedy that I had been given as a gift a
long time ago. The list of ingredients specifically said white salt.  That
sent me down the path of colored salts. Are there documented examples of 
the other color salts (not ones that were colored intentionally) used in 
period?
Aldyth >>>

Well, there's a recipe for coloring salt in the Arabic-language corpus from al-Kitab Wasf al-At'ima al-Mu'tada ("The Book of the Description of Familiar Foods"), 1373.

Milh Mutayyab (spiced salt)

ORIGINAL RECIPE:
Take medium crystals of rock salt and put them in a new pottery jar and seal its lid. Leave it in the tannur on a mild fire for a whole day, and take it out. When salt is cold, mill it fine.

Then take the mentioned spices, namely coriander, cumin, sesame, hemp seed, nigella, poppy seed, fennel, asafoetida root and anise. As for the coriander, sesame, hemp seed, cumin and nigella, they are lightly toasted.  Then the total of these spices should be as much a third of the salt, and they are mixed with it. If you want it musa?tar, add dried thyme leaves to it.

It might be made dyed. That is that it is coloured before being cooked, then dried in the shade. Then grind it again and mix the flavourings with it. Among the colours it is dyed, some like red. Sumac juice is extracted and the salt is put in for a day and a night, then it is taken out and dried as mentioned. As for yellow, it is with saffron, or with the water in which thyme has been steeped. The green is chard water And the blue in water in which a little indigo has been steeped. And in this way, the colour you want.
So understand that.

Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	salt-msg	Page 27 of 27