Sea Salt
I have to credit this blog post to my 18-year-old daughter Alicia, who noticed a trend while we were down in Williamsburg, VA over the 4th of July weekend.
It seems like we go through these food crazes every few years. Low fat. Low cholesterol. Whole wheat. Low sodium. These trends tend to come and go as we peak interest and then move on.
So is that what's happening with sea salt?
Seems like every time I turn around there's another product with sea salt in it. I guess I first noticed it in a meeting when I grabbed a bag of chips. Kettle chips with sea salt. Delicious. And from that moment on, it's every where I look. Even had a high-end dark chocolate bar the other day and it had ... sea salt. Carmel frozen yogurt ... with sea salt. Seems to be the magical ingredient du jour.
From what my chef friends tell me, it's really just salt and it doesn't really matter. Salt is salt. The texture might be different, and it may be processed differently, but it's still salt. But sea salt sounds so much more pure and innocent and natural and friendly, doesn't it? Doesn't feel like it has any of the bad rap that regular salt does, or sodium for that matter. But the truth is, as far as I know ... it makes no difference.
So why is sea salt so good yet sodium is so bad? Marketing, baby, marketing! Just really good marketing, and evidently an equity enhancement when another brand mentions it as an ingredient.
Gotta get back to my chips. What's your experience? Jim.
Jim Joseph
President of Lippe Taylor
Author of The Experience Effect
It seems like we go through these food crazes every few years. Low fat. Low cholesterol. Whole wheat. Low sodium. These trends tend to come and go as we peak interest and then move on.
So is that what's happening with sea salt?
From what my chef friends tell me, it's really just salt and it doesn't really matter. Salt is salt. The texture might be different, and it may be processed differently, but it's still salt. But sea salt sounds so much more pure and innocent and natural and friendly, doesn't it? Doesn't feel like it has any of the bad rap that regular salt does, or sodium for that matter. But the truth is, as far as I know ... it makes no difference.
So why is sea salt so good yet sodium is so bad? Marketing, baby, marketing! Just really good marketing, and evidently an equity enhancement when another brand mentions it as an ingredient.
Gotta get back to my chips. What's your experience? Jim.
Jim Joseph
President of Lippe Taylor
Author of The Experience Effect