Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/599676
f a l l / w i n t e r 2 0 1 5 | 4 1 to his fellow Portlander, Michael Stanton, Executive Chef at the renowned Heathman Restaurant, whom he met about five years ago when Stanton came in to The Meadow looking for Himalayan salt blocks. "I was standing in his shop, looking around, and I just said, 'Oh my gosh.' I knew then that we had to get into the James Beard House to work on a salt pairing dinner." Bitterman is quick to chime in: "It was almost an obvi- ous step," he says of the pairing menu, "because salt is a natural way to showcase ingredients. So I took all of my most badass salts from all over the world, and we sat down and figured out how to make them shine with the ingredients Michael picked." With Bitterman and Stanton determined to bring global salts to Pacific Northwest cuisine, the resulting six-course meal saw dishes like Taha'a vanilla sea salt paired with Dungeness crab, and Anderson Ranch lamb loin served with Takesumi bamboo carbonized deep sea salt (see sidebar for menu highlights). "Salt is the most universal ingredient," explains Bit- terman. "We intentionally chose salts from all over the world—France, Japan, Guatemala, New Zealand—and let them come to the aid of this locally inspired menu. Salt's really just a way of shining a light on what's already rooted in locality," says Bitterman. While sourcing local and premium global ingredi- ents is fine and dandy, any chef will agree—flavor is what matters most. "Our clientele is really smart and sophisticated," says Stanton of The Heathman; "they already expect us to have local, sustainable ingredi- ents, but this brings new flavors to the forefront. Salt has always been part of dishes, but usually it's in the back, enhancing flavors and texture. This menu gives salt a chance to shine." Flavors are at the fore in these pairings, with Bit- terman explaining that salt can have an unexpected impact on a dish. "Chemically, salt can cause very strange interactions with our other taste faculties," says Bitterman. "There are two things that happen when you taste a food: A gajillion things happen in your nose, picking up all of those aromatic flavors, but sweet, salty, bitter, and acid happen in your mouth. And salt is very dominant when it comes to mouth flavors. It juggles the dynamics of how acid, sweet, and bitter play. Take the Taha'a vanilla salt, for example. We think of vanilla as a sweet spice, but in salt, it encourages savory applications. Throw a couple of crystals on a scallop or a crab, and the vanilla accentuates the food. Alternately, when you put salt onto something that's sweet, you drop the floor out from that sweetness and let the aromatics come to the front." Simply put, salt is as much of a balancer as it is an enhancer, in dishes ranging from complex to the super basic, according to Bitterman. "Have you ever made a chocolate chip cookie without salt?" he muses. "They're terrible. Put some salt in them. Salt helps." Attention, chefs! Mark Bitterman has something to say: "All of these authorities, from the most celebrated chefs, to the everyday home cooks, are talking about kosher salt—and they're all wrong, in my opinion! It's completely the most awful product you can use while cooking. If you ask any chef what they care about, it is high-quality, best-in-class ingredients; nobody wants to use garbage, and kosher salt is an industrially refined artificial chemical!" Strong words indeed, but Bitterman's opinion is, well, worth its salt. "Kosher salt should go away forever, and in its place, a natural salt like fleur de sel or sel gris should be used. There's no ingredient used in a kitchen that could be upgraded so colossally as salt." To explore our upgraded possibilities, we asked Bitterman to select a few of his favorite salts—kosher salt need not apply. Here are Mark's tasting notes: Some of Mark Bitterman's favor- ite salt selections at The Meadow. TAHA'A VANILLA: Sweet, aromatic vanilla flakes; perfect sprinkled on top of banana bread, tagines, shellfish. Or try it on coho salmon. BLACK DIAMOND: Mas- sive black flakes for visual pizzazz and bold crunch on top of pastas, soups, grilled asparagus, potato salad, and deviled eggs. TAKESUMI BAMBOO: Produced from incinerated bamboo segments packed with Japanese deep-sea salt. These flinty, oys- tery pop rocks bring rich umami flavor to stir-fries, lean meats, vegetables, rice, coffee. BITTERMAN'S BLUE LAVENDER: Oregon-grown culinary lavender infused with deli- cate flaky sea salt. Sprinkle boldly herbaceous laven- der flakes on ice cream, pastries, fish, fresh garden salads. Try it on top of tapioca pudding. BITTERMAN'S FLEUR DE SEL: Pure and unre- fined, sun-evaporated, hand-harvested. Evaporat- ed with pure solar energy in a Guatemalan mangrove forest and harvested by hand. Moist, mineral-rich crystals lend full flavor and gentle crunch to your ev- eryday cooking. Think of it as your multi-purpose sea salt replacement for kosher salt. Sprinkle on everything from scrambled eggs to fresh garden salads, to pastas and soups, to cara- mels and Margaritas. SHINKAI DEEP SEA SALT: Seawater from 3,000 feet deep is evapo- rated in greenhouses using ancient Japanese salt- making techniques. Fine, bittersweet snowflakes shimmer with complexity in soups, beef, tempura, sashimi. BLACK TRUFFLE SALT: Hand harvested Sicilian sea salt expertly infused with Italian summer black truffles from Tuscany. Using this salt is the most cost-effective way to get truffles into your diet. Try it on eggs, pasta, meat, or popcorn. Or a family secret: Thanksgiving Day mashed potatoes. SAL DE GUSANO: Hand- harvested Oaxacan sea salt blended with gusanos (agave worms) Pasilla, and Arbol chilis. Super savory, spicy fine-grained crys- tals for mezcal, ceviche, cucumber salad, or fresh pineapple salsa. BUTTERY POPCORN SALT: Fine-grained, but- tery rich crystals take you on a one-way trip to the best popcorn you've ever tasted. Local Oregon green onion, yeast, garlic, and a proprietary blend of spices are infused into our hand- harvested fleur de sel from Guatemala. A must-have salt for popcorn lovers. BACON SALT: Hand-har vested fleur de sel from Guatemala infused with smokehouse bacon. The transcendent topping for eggs, burgers, pork, salad, grilled cheese, ice cream, and chocolate. HANA FLAKE SALT: Fine, icy-fresh flakes for steamed vegetables, poached fish, foie gras, and butterleaf lettuce salad. KALA NAMAK SALT, FINE: Fine-grained, umami eggy richness for spicy foods, chutneys, tofu, scrambles, popcorn. India's legendary black salt is rich in sulfur, magnesium, and iron, and a must-have for all vegetarian and vegan eaters. ■cr