SALT is a mineral that we all take for granted. The extra benefit it adds to the flavour of food we eat is unsurpassed, think fish and chips or a nice piece of juicy steak.
I’m sure your mouth will be watering while dwelling on this subject, as we find out a little more about this wonderful addition to our food.
Often referred to as table salt, or by its chemical formula NaCI (sodium chloride) it’s an ionic compound made of sodium and chloride ions. Some of the earliest evidence of salt processing dates back to 6000BC, where people boiled spring water to extract the salts.
Salt is not only gathered from salt lakes, (some man made), but operating along the Murray River are many salt mitigation schemes where a series of bores prevent 200 tonnes of salt and brine leaching into the river every day.
Some of the pink salt flakes are used by chefs and foodies around the world. The pink hue of the salt lakes is created by the high level of minerals including magnesium and calcium in the brine.
While the uses of salt seem to be never ending, we normally only think of our table salt – but salt is used in so many other ways.
A large amount of the salt produced goes towards our swimming pools, helping to keep them fresh and clean. Others go towards the preserving of animal skins, to keep them fresh and from drying out, while some goes towards the table variety in a number of different ways (think chicken salt etc.). While others are used in preserving. (think fish)
If you are a stringed instrument player and get sore fingers from playing, a flat dish holding water and salt mixture can help alleviate sore fingers.
Meanwhile nestled among the dusty landscape of outback NSW at a place called Copago, is a 344 hectare salt lake, glaringly white in the bright sun, a striking contrast to the red earth that surrounds it.
Right there, a promising small business is growing.
After years of trial and error, a clever woman has started gathering the salt and selling her flavoured salt products at the local Wilcannia store, some 40km away.
She goes out to the salt lake armed with a few ice cream dishes and gathers the product, which is then dried at home and mixed together with items like basil and rosemary from the garden.
As depicted on ABC Rural, the flavoured salt is then sold to help make up the shortfall in the family finances.
Till next time.
