Archive for October, 2008

A pinch of Salt…

Monday, October 27th, 2008

Salt

Most of us take the salt in our shakers for granted. But there is a world of history and tradition in a pinch of salt.

Did you know that a hundred years ago salt shakers were practically non-existent?
That was before 1911, when Joy Morton began adding an anti-clumping agent to salt.
Before Morton’s ad agency thought up the little umbrella girl and the slogan "When it rains, it pours," the very idea of tiny, perfectly white, uniformly-sized salt crystals was a revolution.

But as so often happens with revolutions, now, a counter-revolution has begun.

Full article here

Salt and Spas

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

The name of some European spas — Bad Salzdetfurth, Bad Salzungen oder Bad Salzuflen — indicate that salt is an important part of the spa’s programme.

Visitors to those European spas and others immerse themselves in healing, briny water containing a minimum of 1.45 percent salt. The salt springs on which the spas are built are found nearly everywhere in Germany. They are especially common on the northern border of Saxony, Brandenburg, Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Beyond its use in spas, salt no longer plays an economic role,” said Schmidt. But recreational enthusiasts follow the tracks of salt’s story when they travel the “Salt and Brine Wellness Route” in the Swabian Alb region northward to between the Neckar and Hohenlohe districts where there are abundant underground salt deposits.

Bathing in salt water can lift one’s well-being. Water containing 3 percent salt gives the body buoyancy, allowing the muscles to relax. The higher the salt content in the water, the greater the relaxation.

Full article here