Salt is the new Sugar

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