Wine.Woot : One Week, One Wine (SM)

French Salt Trio Collection with Glass Tray
$29.99 + $5 shipping
Condition: Salty
Products:
1 Fleur de Sel de Guérande 5oz glass jar
1 Fumée de Sel – Chardonnay & Oak Smoked Salt 5oz glass jar
1 Sel Gris de Guérande – Fine 6 oz glass jar
1 Trio Glass Serving Tray

Product Website

Monday offer still available (St. Supéry Vineyards Élu) here:
http://wine.woot.com/monday

Good deal - $15.99 for the two 'plain' sea salts and $17.99 for the smoked on their website.

$3 shipping there, a special for November.

And before this gets asked,
Yes this ships to all states
No you do not have to be 21 to order

No bacon salt?

Actually, this exact trio (French) with the glass tray sells for $59.99 + shipping on their website.

Ok, I'll be the ignorant one - what do I use these for really? Finishing salt - whats that? I do fancy myself a foodie, but I'm really in dark here.

damightyanteater wrote:Ok, I'll be the ignorant one - what do I use these for really? Finishing salt - whats that? I do fancy myself a foodie, but I'm really in dark here.

How about a simple heirloom tomato salad with a touch of balsamic & a sprinkling of salt?

Cesare wrote:And before this gets asked,
Yes this ships to all states
No you do not have to be 21 to order

Is it kosher?

lol

I used to live near Guérande and would go to visit the coast and the salt marshes every now and again. One stop on those trips was a little restaurant that did and amazing steak with a light Fleur de Sel crust. I've never had better steak since.

I found the Sel Gris was fantastic for cooking but the crystals were too large for a shaker and the salt too moist to work well in a grinder so never used it as a table salt. Sounds like this particular one may be drier and ground finer for that purpose though.

Williams-Sonoma are selling Fleur de Sel French Sea Salt from island of Ré 8.8oz for $12.50 + $5.50s/h. That's $33/lb compared to woot's $35/lb. Is it comparable to what woot is peddling? Damned if I know.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/sku2083517/?pkey=x%7C4%7C1%7C%7C4%7Csel%7C%7C0&cm_src=SCH

Amazon 4oz $9 or $36/lb w free shipping:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RQPUZW

Woot offering is in better packaging.

BTW, "Salt Smith" I never knew that profession existed.

damightyanteater wrote:Is it kosher?

lol

Plain salt is kosher even without certification but the Fumée de Sel sounds problamatic.

damightyanteater wrote:Ok, I'll be the ignorant one - what do I use these for really? Finishing salt - whats that? I do fancy myself a foodie, but I'm really in dark here.

I'll second the sprinkle over steaks searing on the grill - but, more importantly, during a home invasion, you want to bury your face in the glass tray and come up shooting - "Say allo my lill fren"

I'm not supposed to be spending money, but I'm in for this. I have their black lava salt and it is really good.

You can use these as a finishing salt (to "finish" a dish with) or for a kind of appetizer. Take a baguette and cube it. Take the cubes one by one (like chips or crackers), dip in some good quality olive oil and dip the oil-dampened bread cube in one of the salts, and eat. Note the taste differences in the salts.

Michael Chiarello (spelling?) is a big fan of the gray sea salt. I thought it was hooey until I got some as a gift. For simple dishes with few ingredients, it makes a great seasoning. Don't use with a shaker or grinder. Use the "pinch" method to apply. A good recipe for using gray salt is found here.

Thanks for the advice, annsalisbury.
I'm sorely tempted to get the salt, but frankly, as a financially stereotypical college student, I simply am not able to afford any foods worth justifying use of the salt on.

Not that I really ought be spending the money on the salt in the first place..

Still, I do love a good spice.

Bezalel wrote:Plain salt is kosher even without certification but the Fumée de Sel sounds problamatic.

As hard as it may be to believe "Bacon Salt" with the FLAVOR of bacon IS kosher because it doesn't actually contain bacon. It's likely the same for this smoked salt. I recall that from the recent woot-off.

Some wiki info on sea salt (with some pictures of the evaporation pools): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_salt

The "fleur de sel" is the "white sea salt" that blooms on top (literally translated as "salt flowers") of the evaporation ponds and is more "pure" in flavor as something you'd know as salt. Once they harvest that they then scrape up the underlying layer which is the "sel gris" or "grey salt". It has more of a "mineral" flavor because it has some of the evaporating pond soil in it...it's not like eating dirt, it's just closer to the minerals in the soil that leeched up into it and thereby has a grey hue.

French grey sea salt is considered the finest grey salt in the world.

For the prior question about "what is a finishing salt?" Think of "table salt" or what you would put on your food once it's cooked to get to your peferred level of salt. You can cook with fine salts such as these, however they will lose some of the subtle flavors (especially the grey salt) when buried within a dish.

The gems in this offering IMO are the grey salt and the fumee (smoked) salt. The serving dish is very nice and I recommend using something like that for all of your salts. You can also find a very small demitasse-like spoon at cooking stores/sites to keep you fingers out of the salt to prevent cross contaimination if working with raw meats.

Way to expound upon the enticement.
It's as if you're purposefully committing to convincing me to purchase the salts.

I don't suppose playing upon the phrasing of the wine.woot faq and attempting to be a labrat for the salt would work- it is well before 10 on Monday, though..

After doing some perusing, it looks like while you can potentially get the other two salts for comparatively cheaper, a Fumée de Sel would be 13 - 18$ for about that same size. Of course, that isn't even taking into account the difference in supplier, increased costs of shipping, and lack of inclusion of snazzy serving dishes.

- - -
(www.thespicehouse.com)
Fumée de Sel
Chardonnay oak smoked sea salt is a very unusual salt which teams an unlikely pair together; a prestigious winery and an artisinal salt company.

The salt crystals are raked by hand. To dry, the salt is smoked over fires made from the burning of hand selected French oak wine barrels, which have been used to house and age fine French chardonnay for five to seven years. The salt turns a light brown hue fromt the roasting. The salt absorbs not only the smoke flavor but also the oak and chardonnay. Use this salt to finish a extraordinary dish. It's great on meats, seafood, salads, omelets and potatoes.

luckyinla wrote:How about a simple heirloom tomato salad with a touch of balsamic & a sprinkling of salt?

I think that over-complicates a really good heirloom tomato. A caprese salad doesn't need salt, but I think a really good tomato with salt only is impossible to beat.

In any case it seems like I am getting two sea salts and a one smoked salt. What separates these salts from other salts? It seems like the texture might be notable but it doesn't seem exactly clear the size and shape of grain I might be buying: are these the young crystals more like flakes of salt or simply a smaller crystal?

We have and use many of this companies salts. We love each one for its own uniqueness and amazing flavor it adds to each dish. We purchased all of ours from Avanti Savoia. Actually I should have told you all about this site a long time ago since we are all foodies and winos. Anyway these salts are amazing. We always get the course salts and use them in this salt grinder, Old Thompson, Bavaria Salt Grinder. Very durable glass grinder plus the salt really is eye catching in them. We have people ask about them all the time, great conversation starters. Currently we have six lined up and I would highly recommend these and their other salts if you get the chance. Enjoy!


PS: I love that woot is doing a food related item on Fridays. Since we all love our food just as much as our wine. Cheers Woot!

Bezalel wrote:Plain salt is kosher even without certification but the Fumée de Sel sounds problamatic.

I am going to check it out.

Edit: This might NOT be Kosher!!!!! I asked and the OU rabbi on the bus and he said that If there is no Hekture, it isn't kosher.

Checking with salt company.

In for 3.
Merry Xmas Mom, Dad, Bro and Sis-in-law...
Oh yeah and 1 for me!

What are the dimensions of the glass serving tray?

at the end of the day no matter how awesome this is and i'm sure it's the best salt ever...its still $30 for a pound of salt.

I actually just ordered some Himalayan Pink Salt from Saltworks. Shipping was speedy, packing was sturdy, seems like a good company. You wouldn't think you'd notice any different flavor from a different salt but you do. It's subtle but it's there.

Have the comments regarding the healthiness of Salt #3 been evaluated by any accredited medical bodies?

$30 for a pound of salt?

The only thing that comes to mind is that this salt must come from the pre-Revolutionary regions of the grand gabelle where the price was as much as 61 times the price in Brittany on the Atlantic.

My capitalist hat's off to the entrepreneurs who can pull this off.

Bezalel wrote:Plain salt is kosher even without certification but the Fumée de Sel sounds problamatic.

Plain salt ... an oxymoron that has never before occurred to me!

racephoto wrote:I actually just ordered some Himalayan Pink Salt from Saltworks. Shipping was speedy, packing was sturdy, seems like a good company. You wouldn't think you'd notice any different flavor from a different salt but you do. It's subtle but it's there.

Isn't Himalayan pink salt fancy marketing for 'Pakistan rock salt'?

I paid about $20 for a small jar of truffle salt in Florence. The aroma alone is worth the price.

This looks really good and I have been looking for some good salts for a while.

Does anyone know if for most uses these should be ground? I guess I could just spoon them out as needed. I'm also wondering about long term storage since at least one of these is a moister salt than the average salt.

The Bavaria salt mills look nice so if I need to get a mill for these I'll probably pick those up.

Please, no one tell the wife how much I'm going to spend on salt today.

Jason

rpm wrote:$30 for a pound of salt?

The only thing that comes to mind is that this salt must come from the pre-Revolutionary regions of the grand gabelle where the price was as much as 61 times the price in Brittany on the Atlantic.

My capitalist hat's off to the entrepreneurs who can pull this off.

Try the same deal elsewhere... capitalism rulz
http://www.saltworks.us/shop/product.asp?idProduct=459

rpm wrote:$30 for a pound of salt?

Any difference than paying $30+ a lb for coffee or the same for "prime" steak? I won't even go to the price per ounce of wine sometimes.

At least with the salt, a lb will last a long time.

http://www.artisansalt.com/products.html

Better than the website price. I am in for a couple for x-mas gifts.

As mentioned above for those that watch a lot of the Food Network you know that Michael Chiarello uses grey salt on EVERYTHING. For those still wondering what grey salt can season besides tomatoes, see below.

Here is a link to his Food Network site: grey salt recipes

Also he sold out to Betty Crocker/Progresso and did a bunch of recipes for them with their products; not as many recipes using grey salt as the Food Network site, but generally less complex to make. Progresso recipes

IUnknown wrote:
Does anyone know if for most uses these should be ground? I guess I could just spoon them out as needed. I'm also wondering about long term storage since at least one of these is a moister salt than the average salt.

Mostly you just use a pinch at the table - like your ancestors. You'll find salt cellars at any antique shop if you don't like the triple that comes with the offer. Sure, you can grind. But, the wet salts should be ground at the table in a ceramic or glass bladed grinder.

The moist salt keeps just fine. As table salt, this offer is a lot of salt. Unless you are going overboard in your salt consumption.

They say a sucker is born every minute. I guess officially my minute was approximately 37 years ago. I'm in for 1!

damightyanteater wrote:Is it kosher?

lol

Maybe you already knew this but "Kosher Salt" is a misnomer for "Koshering Salt", the consistency-type used in the process of salting kosher meats.

All salt is itself kosher (which maybe doesn't make much sense, given its interaction with living, unkosher animals).

damightyanteater wrote:Ok, I'll be the ignorant one - what do I use these for really? Finishing salt - whats that? I do fancy myself a foodie, but I'm really in dark here.

Hi- this is Saxon from SaltWorks. Finishing salt just means that you use it as the final touch, and sprinkle it on your meal just before eating. The French Trio salts work great in cooking, and as finishing salts as well.

I had thought to get some French salts for my husband, who loves exotic recipes and new tastes. This will make a great holiday gift for him, so thanks!