The hot new way to cook steak? 5izzle it on a salt block!
...not just any salt, but a slab of pink Himalayan rock that’s this year’s quirkiest kitchen trend
THERE are very few of us who have kitchen utensils that are more than half a billion years old. And there are surely fewer still who can boast ones that were forged by mighty tectonic forces deep within a mountain range, and extracted by hand from treacherous mines in Pakistan.
But if you are the owner of a Himalayan rock salt cooking block, then you can pride yourself on having a utensil that is not only as old as the hills, but also this season’s must-have kitchen accessory. Indeed, salt blocks are becoming so desirable that they are now even a fixture in that most august of kitchenware bibles – the Lakeland catalogue.
From sizzling cuts of meat to frozen puddings, those selling them claim these lumps of pink rock will change your cuisine for good. First, a quick geology lesson. Some 600million years ago, a vast inland sea in central Asia started to evaporate, and left behind billions of tons of salt. Over the next hundreds of millions of years, that huge deposit of salt was buried by the formation of the Himalayas, and would slowly absorb some 80 trace minerals, including iron, copper, and calcium – and it is these that give the Himalayan rock salt its distinctive pink hue and, say foodies, unique flavour.
Today, in modern Pakistan, the salt is extracted from deep below the Himalayas in enormous slabs. And when heated to a high temperature, the blocks can be used for cooking, acting as a unique form of frying pan. Cooking? You read that right. And not just cooking. According to Mark Bitterman, an American chef and the author of Salt Block Cooking, you can also use a salt block for curing, cooling, freezing, caramelising, softening, firming, crisping, or just simply presenting food at the table. ‘Salt blocks may not be the most hightech piece of cooking equipment in your kitchen,’ he says, ‘but they can transform food like nothing else.’
A bold claim, and it needed to be tested – could a simple slab of ancient salt really radicalise my cuisine?
LESSON 1 – DON’T DROP IT
THE first thing I noticed upon taking delivery of the salt was its weight. The block clocks in at over 10lb, which makes it about as heavy as a big cast-iron frying pan. And although it feels as solid as a rock, I certainly didn’t fancy its chances if I accidentally dropped it – they can shatter easily if mishandled.
Before you start to cook with the block, you first must ‘cure’ it in the oven. This takes three hours, and involves slowly raising the temperature from 100 degrees to around 240 degrees. This process removes any residual moisture, and should ensure the block lasts longer.
A SMOKING HOT START
I DECIDED to start with something simple – a sirloin steak. Like many men, I regard myself as a steak aficionado, and can cook up a mouthwatering hunk of cow on my barbecue or with a ridged griddle pan. Would the salt block beat me at my own game? In order to run it through its paces, I tried heating the salt block in two ways. In a pan on an induction hob, and indirectly over the charcoal on a barbecue (once the block is heated up – or frozen – it is able to maintain the temperature by itself for the cooking process). Both methods worked just as efficiently, and the block was soon far too hot to touch – sizzle time! On went the first piece of sirloin, which I deliberately did not season, and it was soon cracking and spitting away. After a couple of minutes, I flipped it over, and then when it was done, I allowed it to rest. The result? Exquisite. The steak tasted just salty enough, but also seemed to possess a mineral tang that I had never tasted before. This could only be put down to all those other elements and minerals acquired deep beneath the Himalayas for hundreds of millions of years, which made me feel slightly humble. It also made me feel healthy, as salt block devotees swear that those minerals are good for you. Sheer greed caused me to try a second steak, although this time the result was disappointing as the sirloin tasted too salty. At first, I could not work out why, but then I realised that I had allowed the block to cool,
and as the steak had taken longer to cook, it had absorbed too much salt.
SEA BREAM AND GLORIOUS GOO
MY NEXT attempt involved cooking a bream, and once again, the block came up trumps. The block imbued a rich and yet delicate briny tang to the fish, which was seriously tasty. Normally, fish leaves me cold, but this was exceptional. It was now time to get a bit more ambitious. Next on the menu was molten brie with pistachio crumbs and warm salted dates – a really sinfully festive treat that would, at the very least, see the pink block covered in glorious goo. The ingredients were all placed on the block and then popped into the oven for 20 minutes. What emerged looked like an installation in a modern art gallery, and tasted ruinously good. The brie had been infused with the salt, really maximising its flavour, and when smeared on to a hunk of barbecued bread, the several thousand beats it knocked off the lifespan of my heart seemed well worth it.
TIME TO COOL OFF
SO FAR, the block was proving as good as the hype. But could it cope with chilling things? What I really needed were a couple of puddings.
First up was salted peanut brittle, which required the block to be popped into the freezer for an hour. After all the heating, I was worried that the sudden contraction might cause the block to crack, but it proved resilient. After making the unctuous brittle mixture, I then spread it around the cold block, and allowed it to set for 30 minutes. I then snapped a piece off, and after nearly fracturing a molar, was overwhelmed by the contrasting flavours of salt and sugar. Another triumph for the block.
Peppermint ice cream proved less successful. I used a recipe by Bitterman, which required the block to be frozen overnight before the ice cream mixture is poured on to it. The first dollop did indeed magically transform into ice cream, but when I tried a second dollop, it refused to set. What swiftly became apparent was that in the heat of my kitchen, the block had warmed up, and though it was still very cold, it had lost its ability to freeze. Nevertheless, the batch that did set tasted great – if you like salted ice cream.
Of course, the ultimate test is whether I shall actually use it again. My guess is that I will bring it out at lunch parties twice a year, and wow my guests with fabulous steaks. Additional reporting: Sophie Middleton