I discovered the value of Kosher salt in cooking about ten years ago. Not that much of a foodie but as you learn to cook a greater variety of dishes you start running across recipes for various kinds of salt. Morton kosher salt is cheap and works in nearly every dish, at least for me. Not bad on the rim of a glass in a pinch either.

Then someone sends you a subscription to a gourmet cooking magazine and you find out what fleur de sal is. It's fine but I'm hard pressed to use it very much given the cost.

Here's a somewhat comprehensive Slate article about salt from a cooking rather than public health standpoint. (Very interesting link, Annie, BTW. I am definitely putting table salt on something tonight---the very idea of goiters makes me shudder.)

http://www.slate.com/id/2117243/

It is my understanding, based on what public health nutritionist told me, that Americans basically do not need iodized salt, except maybe the Amish. This is because the chemicals used to clean production equipment used to process food contains iodine. Trace amounts are left on the equipment, and end up in our food. The amount of iodine we actually need over our lifetime is so small that this residue is sufficient for most people who eat processed food.

In developing countries, of course, it is a different story. Salt iodization (along with supplementing bread) is one of the easiest health interventions. Unfortunately, iodized salt does not taste as good as sea salt, so that is a barrier. I, like Stilwell, gave up on iodized salt after I discovered the taste of better salt.

Hmmm . . . we're actually more of a sea-salt house here. Maybe we should mix it up with the iodized action, but we're not having kids, so I don't think it's as big of a deal.

Man, I love salt!

Hey Jude,

That may be true but not all of us believe that we need to eat processed food.

In fact, Americans eat *way* too much "white" food; i.e., processed refined flours & sugars. It's no surprise that most Americans are overweight & that diseases like diabetes are on the rise.

#4 - I am just saying that that is where america gets most of its iodine, and apparantly it provides enough. And its not like you have to eat processed food all day, every day. I'd guess there are very few people in the US who don't eat ANY processed food, especially as kids. As for diet, yes, junkfood is a problem, I agree.

Hey Annie, if you're into historical implications of salt, you gotta read about Gandhi's Salt March: http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Dandi.html.

Salt never hurt a breakfast sandwich either.

Sacha Cohen has been brilliant in bringing the Orthodox Jewish perspective to U.S. media.

Sacha sent his wife to Israel to be indoctrinated in Jewish ritual. Every good Jewish woman should submit to training for her husband.