A pinch of Salt? A lot more than that!! (Part 1)

Dear Reader

When (re)searching for information on asafetida, a curious question led me to do some extra reading on Salt. The question that arose was in the recipe section that said 'no salt required'. I began to wonder if at all it was natural to add salt to our food and if so, from when did we begin to add salt to food? To my pleasant surprise, there are quite a lot of researched books on Salt. And what these books did is more than a surprise because who will not vouch for the politics of food? 

     Ask anyone!! The first test for a newlywed bride is if she can add a measure of salt in the food, without tasting it!! There is a folktale about how women were 'chosen' as homemakers. The 'girl' would be asked to cook food with all the ingredients provided. If the food served was tasty, with the right amount of salt in it, she will make a good homemaker. If the salt is less, then she is stingy and will not take care of all the members of the family; and if she has added extra salt, then she is a spendthrift and not at all a good wife or a homemaker😳😳 so much for salt, for a beginning!! And not to forget the all-important tragedy written by William Shakespeare King Lear, originating in French folk tale. In the tale, the King abandons his daughter as she said "I love you as much as I like salt". Angered by the comparison, he expels her, only to realise its significance when he ate his food without salt. 

   Please don't think that the folktale made a 'silly connection' between 'Salt' and 'finances' and 'relationships'. To begin with, remember Dandi March starting from 12 March 1930 to 6 April 1930. History vouches for the fact that salt has waged wars and won them. "It is recorded that thousands of Napolean's troops died during his retreat from Moscow because their wounds would not heal due to lack of salt. In 1777, the British Lord Howe was jubilant when he successfully captured General Washington's salt supply. Salt motivated the American pioneers. The American Revolution had heroes who were salt makers, and a part of the British strategy was to deny the American rebels access to salt. Salt was on the mind of William Clark in the groundbreaking Lewis and Clark expedition to the Pacific Northwest. The first patent issued by the British crown to an American settler gave Samuel Winslow of the Massachusetts Bay Colony the exclusive right for ten years to make salt by his particular method"  (https://seasalt.com/history-of-salt)

       No wonder the early man built a home where either salt was abundant or at least quickly available. It is believed that the discovery of new sea routes was from the cities which had little or no salt to cities where salt was in abundance. The earliest sea routes discovered were for salt merchandise making it one of the most essential commodities. Thus, cities were built and named after derivates of salt. The city of 'Salzburg' literally means 'city of salt' which could be reached travelling via 'Salaria' (the road to salt) in Italy😀  The pride of our hard work at workplace-'salary' comes from the Latin root word 'sal' which is used to form the word 'salt'. And the dietician's most reliable nutritious food 'salad' comes from the Latin 'hernia salata' or 'salted greens'. It is believed to have grown out of the ancient Roman habit of dipping romaine lettuce in salt. And that tradition was changed by salting the greens by dressing them with vinaigrette, which was made out of a simple combination of olive oil, vinegar, and salt.  

     Dear Reader, I will need another post to share the role of salt in religion and some of its interesting cultural connotations. Hope the wait will be 'worth the salt' 😍. 

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