SALT (Part One): The Old Soul in Your Kitchen

Just a pinch of salt can pull a stew together, make a tomato sing, or turn a bitter mouthful into something worth writing home about. But did you know the salt in your cupboard is older than the hills—and I mean that almost literally?

The sodium in salt was born in the belly of ancient stars and scattered across the universe by exploding suns. It drifted for ages before settling on Earth, where it found its way into oceans, rocks, our bones—and yes, our kitchens. So, when you size it all up, it's not just seasoning in your supper - it's stardust!

But salt’s story doesn’t stop there. It's walked beside us throughout history like a faithful old friend. Wars were fought for it. Trade routes were carved out because of it. In ancient Rome, soldiers were paid in salt—'salarium', which is the root of the word salary. To be “worth your salt” meant you were doing your job well. It still holds that meaning today if you ask me.

Here in Newfoundland, salt goes beyond flavour—it meant survival.

For generations, our people leaned on salt to keep food through the long, cold months of winter. Salt fish wasn’t just a meal—it was the backbone of the economy. Women worked the flakes, men brought in the catch, and families around the world were fed from our windswept shores.

My cousin Ricky's salt fish flake next door to The Keeper's Kitchen Inn

Salt blessed bread, kept cellars full, and shaped the smell of home. To this day, the scent of boiling salt fish can bring a Newfoundlander straight back to their Nan’s kitchen.

So yes, salt may be small. But here, it’s mighty. It’s memory. It’s muscle. It’s home.

In Part Two of our Six-Part Blog Series on Salt, we’ll head into the kitchen and see how salt works its quiet magic—not just as a seasoning, but as an essential ingredient of good cooking.