alaea salt
{{short description|Unrefined sea salt mixed with a red ʻalaea volcanic clay}}
{{Infobox food
| name = {{okina}}Alaea salt
| image = Alaea salt.jpg
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| caption = Alaea salt is an unrefined sea salt that gets its brick red color from a Hawaiian volcanic clay called {{okina}}alaea, composed of over 80 minerals and rich in iron oxide
| alternate_name = Hawaiian red salt
| type = Sea salt
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| country = United States
| region = Hawaii
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| main_ingredient = Salt
| minor_ingredient = Red ʻalaea volcanic clay
| variations =
| serving_size = 100 g
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Alaea salt, alternatively referred to as Hawaiian red salt, is an unrefined sea salt that has been mixed with an iron oxide rich volcanic clay called {{okina}}alaea, which gives the seasoning its characteristic brick red color. It is part of Native Hawaiian cuisine and is used in traditional dishes such as kalua pig, poke, and pipikaula (Hawaiian jerky). It was also traditionally used to cleanse, purify and bless tools, canoes, homes and temples. Once exported to the Pacific Northwest to cure salmon, it saw a resurgence in popularity late in the 20th century in fusion style cuisine of Hawaii both on Islands and beyond.
History
{{okina}}Alaea, a water-soluble colloidal ocherous earth, was used for coloring salt,{{Cite web|url=http://wehewehe.org/gsdl2.85/cgi-bin/hdict?e=q-11000-00---off-0hdict--00-1----0-10-0---0---0direct-10-ED--4--textpukuielbert%2ctextmamaka%2ctextpeplace%2ctextclark-----0-1l--11-en-Zz-1---Zz-1-home-alaea--00-4-1-00-0--4----0-0-11-00-0utfZz-8-00&a=d&d=D777|title = Hawaiian Dictionaries}} which in turn was traditionally used by Hawaiians to cleanse, purify and bless tools, canoes, homes and temples.{{cite news |title=Salt, that essential flavor |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/817612631.html?dids=817612631:817612631&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Apr+06%2C+2005&author=Regina+Schrambling&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Cooking%3B+Salt%2C+that+essential+flavor%3B+There%27s+a+world+of+varieties+-+-+and+each+brings+something+different+to+the+plate.&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131220608/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/817612631.html?dids=817612631:817612631&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Apr+06,+2005&author=Regina+Schrambling&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Cooking;+Salt,+that+essential+flavor;+There's+a+world+of+varieties+-+-+and+each+brings+something+different+to+the+plate.&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 31, 2013 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=April 6, 2005 |access-date=January 13, 2010 |format=fee required | first=Regina | last=Schrambling}} Alaea salt is also used in several native Hawaiian dishes kalua pig, poke, and pipikaula (Hawaiian jerky).{{cite news |title=Simply salt, in many variations |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SA&p_theme=sa&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=11B105E3748C1278&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |work=The Press Democrat |date=August 15, 2007 |access-date=January 13, 2010 |url-access=subscription }} In the 19th century Hawaiians began producing large amounts of alaea salt using European salt making techniques and became a leading supplier to fishermen in the Pacific Northwest for curing salmon.{{cite book |title=Salt: A World History |last=Kurlansky |first=Mark |page=405 |year=2002 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-8027-1373-4 }}Kurlansky, Mark. pg. 405.
It is claimed by one author that most alaea salt sold in the United States is produced in California, not in Hawaii.{{cite book |title=Salted: A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes |last=Bitterman |first=Mark |page=129 |year=2010 |publisher=Ten Speed Press |isbn=978-1-58008-262-4 }} True Hawaiian-made alaea salt is expensive{{cite book |title=Zingerman's guide to good eating: how to choose the best bread, cheeses, olive oil, pasta, chocolate, and much more |url=https://archive.org/details/zingermansguidet0000wein |url-access=registration |last=Weinzweig |first=Ari |page=[https://archive.org/details/zingermansguidet0000wein/page/343 343] |year=2003 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=978-0-395-92616-1 }} and before the rise of convenient Internet shopping was difficult to find elsewhere.
Colour
Alaea salt gets its characteristic brick red color from a volcanic Hawaiian clay called ʻalaea, which contains some 80 minerals and is rich in iron oxide.{{cite book |title=The food of Paradise: exploring Hawaii's culinary heritage |last=Laudan |first=Rachel |page=235 |year=1996 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-1778-7 }}
See also
- {{portal-inline|Food}}