I have mention Mark Bitterman on other posts. Now I am going to give you my review of it two of his four cookbooks. These two books are about as much of a contrast as two books can get, and still be in the Cookbook category. I am about a digital as you can get. I scan any paper, so I don’t have to have it around. I listen to digital books. I read digital magazines. I use my PC or iPad for everything. Except Cookbooks, there is something about cookbooks that I love. I buy them in hardcover, if I can. I can’t explain it, maybe just because I am a chef. You can get most recipes or any information on line. But to me there is something so personal about a cookbook. I don’t loan out my cookbooks, I will give them away occasionally to a good home, but don’t loan them.
They both talk about salt, they both have recipes, so how can they be so different?
Salted: A manifesto on the world’s most
essential mineral, including recipes
This is the first book of his I bought, and as I have said, I bought it thinking it was from the author Mark Bittmen. When I started reading about him, I realized the error of my ways. I have never been happier to make a mistake. This book opened my eyes to the world of salt. I have since bought every book I could find on salt, did not realize there were so many.
The book is 302 pages, with 100 of them being recipes. The other 200 pages he talks about 157 different kinds of salt. If you want a detailed book about all there is to know about salt, this is the book for you. He talks in detail about the history of salt, about how it caused and/or influenced wars. This book is so extremely detailed, I found it hard to absorb it all. I use it more like a textbook or reference book, I will pick it up and read a few pages about one particular salt or to look up the profile of one of the many salts I have.
Most of the pictures are flat, but very clear, showing the crystal structure of the salt. There are a few full page glossy pictures that are great. Has several recipes for the use of a salt block or salt bowl, if that is a direction you might go.
As the title of the book states, it is a Manifesto, including recipes. It does NOT say a cookbook, including his beliefs about salt.
PROS:
- Intensely detailed information about each salt
- Detailed charts and lists
- Explains the history of salt and its effect on world civilization
- Explains how salt effects our bodies
CONS:
- Hard to read about all the salts straight through
- Intensely detailed information about each salt (can that be a pro and a con?)
Craft Salt: The Single Ingredient That Transforms
All Your Favorite Foods and Recipes
This is another great book, but completely different than Salted: A manifesto. This book is 160 pages, with 17 of them being about salt. The other 143 are recipes. He gives a very brief, however extremely educational description of the 7 “families” of salts, as Bitterman calls them. Then in the recipes he has a small “Salt Block” when he suggests which of the 157 kinds of salts would be best suited for that dish. There are very vibrant pictures of a lot of the dishes. Has one recipe are for use of a salt block, a teaser to the use of salt blocks.
PROS:
- More recipes
- Easy the read about all the salts, quickly
- More pictures of the dishes
CONS:
- Does not really get into any of the 157 he talks about in Salted, just mentions them by name
Which Book To Get?
Easy, get them both!
No really… If you are into cooking and have familiarity with using the different salts and have more than 5 different salts in your cabinet, get Salted: A Manifesto. You will be amazed
If you are currently using kosher salt as your go to salt, get Craft Salt. If you are new to using the salts, I think that Salted: A Manifesto, might scare you off of the subject. After you get Craft Salt, and use the salts he suggests, I think you will be eventually getting Salted: A Manifesto
Why didn’t I review the other two?
The two I am not reviewing now are both on salt block cooking. They are very specific, I am just going over the fundamentals of salts. If you do buy a salt block for cooking than you should definitely get at least one of those books.You can’t go wrong with anything from Mark Bitterman.
Salt Block Cooking
