Is there anything worse than under-salted food? Under-salting is, in my opinion, one of the most cardinal cooking errors one can make, and a particularly painful one because, for the most part, it is such a simple fix. To quote the one and only Samin Nosrat, salt makes food taste more like itself…So without salt, all you have are your sad, bland food actors, like weaponless soldiers out to battle.
To be fair, I am, to put it frankly, a bit of a salt fanatic. It’s nothing out of control, or I admit, out of character with some of my more obsessive food tendencies. But I have developed an admittedly strong affinity for Maldon Sea Salt Flakes. But who can blame me? Delicately salty with a subtle crunch: they add the perfect finish to almost any dish. (Sodium skeptics, cover your ears here.) I have even been known on occasion to sprinkle a little bit of salt on every bite of my food, and I have also been known to sprinkle a touch of salt on the food of the innocent civilians dubbed with the task of sitting next to me. At home, this role falls to my father. While he chuckles as I dramatically christen his food with salt, I think that he secretly enjoys it.
Anyways, during meals eaten during the pandemic, a sprinkle of salt was never more than an arms length away. I had the luxury of sprinkling flakes of salt in between bites with wistful abandon whenever I pleased. However, now, with the in-person classes beginning again, I have been forced to re-acquaint myself with the good ol’ packed lunches, which are, in my opinion, much more susceptible to the under-salting fiasco as you do not always have salt within reach. In the past, when I packed myself lunches, I started bringing an old salt shaker filled with a little bit of Maldon Salt with me — for all my sprinkling and salting needs. While this did prove to be effective, the packaging was a little cumbersome and not as portable as I would have liked, and I could not bring an entire salt container to a restaurant or picnic without eliciting looks and sidelong glances from my peers or fellow diners.
Enter, this adorable Jacobsen Salt Co. Sea Salt Slide Tin. It is the perfect packable size to slip in your wallet or backpack or even your back-pocket. The sea salt is of the highest quality and will save you from any impending bland meals. (It has already rescued me from the doom of many under-salted salads and jammy eggs eaten on the road.) I can now salt on-the-go (somewhat) shamelessly, and, with style. If you, too, experience the pain that goes along with under-salted food, do yourself a favor and get yourself a little salt tin. While some may deem portable salt excessive or maybe even obnoxious, I counter with the fact that salt is just as utilitarian as a Swiss army knife or a chap stick, or some other socially acceptable purse item. I’m telling you, bye bye lip gloss, hello sea salt slide tin — I’m starting the trend.