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What is kosher salt and why everyone is talking about it?

iStock | Last updated on - Mar 20, 2020, 08:00 IST

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Everything you need to know about Kosher Salt

Have you ever wondered how bland the world of food would be if we had not discovered salt? Salt is one such ingredient that not just adds the maximum taste to our food but also elevates other flavours and helps everything taste better. Apart from being an integral ingredient for food, it has a lot of medicinal benefits like helping the body in maintaining thyroid levels, preventing low blood pressure, keeping the body hydrated. Did you know that there are more than 10 varieties of edible salt? While the most commonly used amongst all the varieties of salt is our regular table salt, Kosher Salt is now becoming the talk of the town. To find out what is Kosher salt, read on:

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What is Kosher Salt and how is it made?

Every kind of salt found is a naturally occurring substance that is generally harvested from seawater and rock salt deposits in mines made of salt. To get a step ahead to achieve the final product, water has to be completely evaporated from seawater salt and brine the rock-salt by pumping water on these rocks. Once the salt is clean, its crystals can be used in many ways. Kosher salt is a kind of salt is gained from these crystals. The texture of this salt is coarse and it is generally not iodised. This is one of the major reasons why people are preferring to use Kosher instead of regular, table salt. The structure and texture of the salt might depend on particular brands and also on the production.

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How was the name derived?

The word ‘Kosher’ is used for food that is cooked according to Jewish dietary laws. So, technically, almost everything can be Kosher and every salt produced can be Kosher if it is cooked or made in Kosher supervision. But the idea behind its name had nothing to do with the Jewish Laws of cooking. The word Kosher signifies cleanliness and Kosher salt was first used to brine meat. So, it was quite literally Koshering the meat by making it free of any parasites or blood. With the process, the name stuck with this flaky variation of salt.

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How and when to use it?

Kosher salt, if measured correctly, is usually lighter than table salt or the regular salt that we generally use in our households. So, if the quantity of the salt isn’t mentioned in any particular recipe, it is advised to use your judgement. The reason why most people these days are inclined towards using Kosher salt is that it is lighter and distributes easily all over your food but has a little difficulty in dissolving and that is when table salt comes to use. The versatility of Kosher salt mas made its demand rise even though the final product will end up tasting just the same as any other food cooked with regular salt. You can use it in a recipe where it asks you to use ‘coarse salt’. The main purpose of it is to either brine or give your food final seasoning.