Worth His Salt

You might have heard the expression that someone’s worth their salt, or that they are not. Our word salary derives from the Latin salarium, (sal is the Latin word for salt) so, in essence, you’re saying someone’s worth their pay.

All of this leads no where, really. But I did buy some amazing salt at the store the other day. It’s called Malden salt and is from England. Without boring you with a lot of chemistry, salt, or sodium chloride, is a crystal, or part of the cubic crystal system, as illustrated below.

The fascinating thing about the salt I bought is its structure, which is like the pyramid shapes above. Some of the crystals are hollow pyramids, and others are solid. I am completely fascinated by things like this, so I whipped out my trusty little camera and shot some pictures on my super-scratched stainless steel counter/desk.

As the water evaporates, the salt begins to form the pyramid shape and you can see how it leaves layers.

The top’s been knocked off this pyramid, but you can still see its layers. Salt has been “harvested” in Maldon for more than 2,000 years, and was first discovered there by the slaves of Casius Petrox, commander of a Roman legion. Maldon is on the coast of England near Essex, and from a high of 45 saltmakers, only one, Maldon Salt, still exisits.

For more information and some excellent recipes, check Maldon’s website.

See, you never know what you’ll find when you read Pigtown*Design!