No, it's not about the secret agent/assassin movie that Angelina Jolie starred in. It is, in fact, a book about salt. A four hundred and fifty nine page book about salt. Just salt. Nothing more nothing less, just plain old salt.
And you know what? It's actually, really, really interesting.
Mark Kurlansky is at his usual best again with this book- a classic tale of 'everything you could possible want to know about [insert subject here] but were afraid to ask' and what makes Kurlanksy such a compelling writer is that he actually makes subjects you think would be boring as all giddyup into books that are informative, educational and even a little bit fun to read. I've got two of his other books kicking around somewhere- The Basque History of The World and 1968: The Year That Rocked The World... both highly, highly reccommended. Doubly so if intriguing, well-written, non-dry and dusty history is something you dig reading. Check this guy out.
But, back to Salt:
It's a condiment that we take for granted now a days but back as little as 100 years ago, salt was an incredibly valuable commodity. And if you go back to the Ancient World, salt was reserved for the Kings, Queens, Emperors and uber-rich. If you had white salt, you were undoubtedly aristocratic and/or ridiculously wealthy as the peasants had to make do with less pure, dirtier salt.
But the biggest impact on world history that salt had was simpler: before refrigeration technology was invented it was the primary method of preserving food. From salted pork to salted fish, there hasn't been a condiment out there that's had such an incredible impact on world history or world cuisine. Tabasco sauce? Ketchup- or as it was originally known, catsup? Both evolved from styles of pickling that involved preserving food in salt.
The military implications should also be clear as well: armies need food to survive and without salt, none of that would have been possible. Salt embargos were used in the Revolutionary War and the Civil War- and among the South's many disadvantages was a distinct lack of salt- as one of their major saltworks proved to be in what's now West Virginia- which broke away and switched sides pretty early on in the Civil War.
From China to America, all throughout history salt has found unique places in culture, history and cuisine- and while most of history has been a mad quest for the purest salt possible, Kurlansky notes that at the end of the book, a rising desire from world consumers for more artisanal, perhaps less pure salt, less white salt that is changing the nature of one of the most interesting ingredients (it's the only rock we actually eat...) in the world.
This book was chock full of things I didn't know. The most interesting one was probably that Syracuse, NY (when I think of 'Cuse I think of The Carrier Dome and Lake Effect Snow. Probably a disservice to that fine town, but I gotta be honest about it) was a major port town and once upon a time, as recently as 1918 a city of canals. Once the section of the Erie Canal that ran through the town was closed, in a typically American fashion, they paved it over and turned it into Erie Boulevard which it remains today. Kind of mind blowing thinking that the closest thing we have to Venice now in this country is probably the Venetian Hotel in Vegas.
Overall: I'm not going to lie- this was a little bit of a hard slog of a book to get through but it was totally worth it in the end. I'm all about getting my knowledge on and if there's one thing you could say about Kurlansky's books is that they let you do just that. *** and a 1/2 out of **** (I deducted a half because of the perserverence I had to summon to make it all the way through this excellent book.)
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