Salt is the new sugar.
Behind every other sugar craving is a salt
craving. It took me a long time to figure this out. It also took me a
long time to recognize the virtues of salt.
Sugar is obvious.
Sugar was one of the pillars of colonialism: how many tropical lands,
and islands grew rich growing sugar cane? And how many more prospered
turning that sugar into rum, candy, pastries, cakes, creams, syrups and
chewing gum?
Sugar is a plastic sign baking in the hot sun. Salt
is a rusty metal sign in the desert, creaking in the wind. Sugar, as
stated, is colonialism. Salt on the other hand is survival - although no
one tells you that.
A nice early salt memory: when we would
visit my grandmother, because she had a swimming pool, she would offer
snacks. Snacks by the pool.
I inevitably found myself having
root beer and Fritos. I can still taste those Fritos after all these
years - the crunch, the corn, the salt. And even though my skin was dry
from the pool chemicals, and that didn't go well with the poolside
furniture - too dry - that didn't detract from the enjoyment of the
chips. It's possible that the oil in the Fritos helped alleviate the
dryness of my fingertips.
But this anecdote is silly and doesn't do the gravitas of salt justice.
I
remember reading a long time ago that there is, if anything, an
overabundance of salt in the world. As the amount of fresh water
recedes, and desertification increases in many areas, the presence of
salt increases, at least in dry form. This is not to even to mention the
endless supply of sea salt.
I remember thinking that it was just
too much salt, that people only want a light sprinkle of the stuff now
and then, and not the mountains and oceans and underground caves and
mines of it that the world so graciously supplies.
My epiphany
about the value of salt came much later. I came to realize, as I got
older, that the reason I craved the stuff was that it gave me energy.
After
all, salt is a mineral and our body needs a full range of minerals to
function well. The sodium in salt is an electrolyte that is essential
for the smooth operation of nerves, muscles and fluid retention. I think
it was issues I was having in these areas that led me to make the
connection with salt.
In Roman times salt was a luxury and salt
mining was a laborious ordeal performed by slaves. According to Pliny
the Elder soldiers were paid with salt, and hence is the origin of the
word "salary".
In modern times salt mining is much easier since
machinery has replaced most of the grueling human labor. Today major
salt mines are found all over the world, the largest being the Goderich
in Ontario, Canada and the second largest the Khewra in Pakistan. The
largest US salt mine is American Rock Salt in upstate New York, and
others are found in such interesting locations as beneath the city of
Detroit and beneath Avery Island, Louisiana - better known for the
production of Mcillhenny tabasco sauce.
To put the salt business
in perspective, the world's oldest known salt mine is the Duzdagi in
Azerbaijan, where it is believed salt was produced around 3500 BC.
My
own personal obsession with salt came to a head when I decided to visit
the Afar salt mine in Ethiopia's Danakil Desert. This is already a very
arid environment, and in addition prolonged exposure to salt mines is
known to dehydrate a person in dangerous ways. But I welcomed the
opportunity.
After exploring the salt mine for several hours I
walked out into the surrounding desert. I could feel every last bit of
fluid leaving me, and it felt glorious. At some point I must have hit
the ground but I have no memory of that. What I do know is that I have
become a bone-dry slab of stone, baking in the desert sun. I have become
salt and mineral. My destiny has been fulfilled.
- Copyright 2017 by P.T. Gachot
- Copyright 2017 by P.T. Gachot
