The Secret is Salt, says Marcella Hazan

The esteemed Signora Hazan continues to feed us by guiding our cooking. She is our spirit guide mentor. We talk and think about her every day. Literally.

Today we are talking about salt, the most basic ingredient in la cucina Italiana. Marcella Hazan had a BIG opinion about salt. In Marcella Says Marcella, well, says, “When salt is used judiciously, it is not salt that you taste but the unbuttoned natural flavor that salt, and salt alone, can draw out of ingredients.”

She was also known, in her cooking classes, to advocate vehemently against the use of industrially made salt and for the use of good Sicilian Sea Salt. As The City Cook recounts, “Mrs. Hazan abruptly grabbed the familiar cylinder of table salt …‘Never use this… Americans think this is salt but this is from some chemistry laboratory. It only adds sourness. It adds no flavor.’ ”

We agree with Marcella Hazan. There’s no excuse to use any other salt. Our Sea Salt comes from the salt flats of Trapani, Sicily. The taste is amazing. Last but not least, it’s extraordinarily affordable.