Salt comes in many forms, but few are arguably as special as Celtic Sea Salt (or Sel Gris). This salt is still harvested by hand on the coast of Brittany, and is championed by many for its apparent benefits and versatile uses in cooking, personal health and more areas. Below, we’re going to explore some of the many uses of Celtic Sea Salt, and what helps set it apart in the wider world of salt.
1. Culinary Uses
One of the best times to use Celtic Sea Salt, of course, is in the kitchen when preparing a meal. Now, all kinds of salt can be used to augment the flavour profile of any food, but where Sel Gris really comes in handy is for dishes that lack animal fat and/or are plant based. These leaner meals are certainly healthier, but they require a compensating kick in the seasoning that helps bring out the flavour of the other ingredients. Celtic Sea Salt is perfect for that.
Besides bringing its own unique taste, the best thing that it does in reality is to enhance and draw out the maximum level of flavour of the food being prepared. In this way, it can be used as a great tool to make healthier food more palatable and enjoyable to those who are struggling to stick with a vegetarian diet for health reasons, for example.
Celtic Sea Salt also finds a welcome home in many baked goods, especially for desserts. The unassuming nature of the salt helps it to bring out more of the natural flavour within your baked goods!
2. Uses in Traditional Medicine
The process of preparing sea salt goes back thousands of years, so it stands to reason that ancient civilizations had a use for it in the medical sphere. It was believed to be an effective antidiuretic that could also work on throat pain and clear the sinuses of blockages and other issues. On top of that, some believed that the salt had a natural cooling effect on the body, and was therefore ideal for controlling water levels in the body, and for flushing out toxins to retain the body’s balance.
Celtic Sea Salt is also very well known for its help in fixing damaged or broken skin, being used as an exfoliant while simultaneously disinfecting and allowing its minerals to work as a kind of balm to skin injuries. These same minerals — about 92 trace element minerals when counted — also contain dozens of minerals that aid and restore basic bodily functions, especially if one had been experiencing muscle spasms or disorders in the nervous system.
3. Supplementing Mineral Deficiencies
Above we just touched on the ability of Celtic Sea Salt to aid in certain medical conditions that might be caused or exacerbated by particular mineral deficiencies, among other things. The mineral makeup of Sel Gris is quite impressive, including much-prized minerals our bodies crave like potassium, iron and calcium, among others. Such nutrients are extremely welcome in a growing food culture where a lot of natural goodness is stripped away from food as it is processed, packaged, shipped, etc.
If a sprinkle of Celtic Seal Salt can help restore the nutritional goodness of a meal, then it’s a very useful ingredient indeed!
4. As Bath Salts
Finally, as with many other specialty salt types, Celtic Sea Salt is a popular choice when it comes to running a detoxifying bath. The natural colour, moisture content, as well as mineral content, do a lot to enrich your bathwater with elements that bring benefits to one’s skin and make it all the more refreshing and revitalizing to wash and exfoliate oneself.