Kurlansky: Salt
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Mark Kurlansky, Salt. New York : Walker and Company, 2002. 484 pages.
Kurlansky introduces the reader to the ancient political value of having salt in a country, how salt shaped civilizations, and that it was often used for currency. Whoever controlled the salt had the power. There are sketches and maps to guide the reader along. You can read about the rest of the world, but let me tell you that the USA is presently the largest salt producer and consumer, but only 8% is used for food; the other largest, single use is for de-icing the roads!
I don't cook or eat with much salt, but in Cuzco, Peru I visited salt flats and having learned about the life of salt miners/farmers, I pay a little more attention. I learned that a lifetime of stomping in the salt flats corrodes one's feet.
A recent book by Kurlansky, Cod, received a James Beard Award for Excellence in Food Writing; however, his previous books seem to have been about history and geography.
-- Notes by EHL
