Salt (90-180)

Summary:
     Thus far we have journeyed through Venice, Egypt, and The Celts of whatever land they came from. Now we are moving up from the common uses of Salt and transitioning into the more traditional and royal uses of the famous rock. Our journey takes us to Italy and introduces us to the famous Parma. The Parma was the salted ham of Italy it was the most famous of its kind(salted meats). The name Parmesan, of the equally famous cheese was derived form the Parma meat of Italy because of it's rare texture and somewhat semi-aged nature, but still maintained its dairy-like flavor.
      Now we are introduced to the role of salt in the age old battle of aged cheese vs. fresh cheese. Because cheese is as old as domesticated animals, fresh cheese was always easier to come by, so it was readily available. On the other hand aged cheese took experience to perfect and lots of time and energy to produce on the market. The revolution of salt in salted cheese made the market for that product open up completely.
      Then we are introduced to the different kinds of salts and the types of uses they are primarily used for. Cardona's rock salt for example was a salt in high demand but was not available to those who could not pay the hefty price tag that came along with the demanding rock. The rock was not of higher quality but its variety of uses made it a favorite to those who were always experimenting. Then the products of salt in  the preservation of fishes was introduced. Salt provided for whiter and leaner fish which cold have been kept in an inexpensive packaging and storage facility and still maintain its fresh quality. Different spices mainly from the Mediterranean, made the fish brown and not nearly as lean as with salt curing. Also the packaging of the Mediterranean had to be tightly sealed with little to no oxygen exposure.  The exposure would cause the fish to turn rancid, and that kind of packaging was not readily available during that time.
     The topic of Vikings also comes up, and is explained with their economic involvement with salt.Like the Celts the Vikings were always on the move and came across Salt as they did so, and they made a life out of selling and trading salt. They were either selling salt or making tools and weapons out of elephant tusks or reindeer antler.


       Back to the royal portion of the book: Royalty had many superstitions regarding the wa y salt was eaten and passed, or even placed around the table. When royalty had company they would send their servant to the saltcellar(yes their homes/castles were that big that they had e cellar especially made for salt) to fetch their best batch. Salt would be placed in front of the Dinner guests and then was never to be touched with one's fingers, only by knife or fork, etc.