Culinaria: JP McMahon on the importance of salt

Salt is fundamental to human existence. Without it, we cannot survive. Its history as an essential element in cooking is as long as human history itself. In Aniar, we only use Irish sea salt: a fine one for seasoning during cooking and a soft flaky one for finishing.

One interesting way of using salt in cooking is to bake with it. This involves covering the whole joint (fish, meat or vegetable) in salt.

This is very popular in fine dining restaurants all around the world, in particular NOMA who champion it in many different ways. But this technique is not new. It has been used in both the Mediterranean and China for more than 2,000 years. What the technique does is to hold moisture in by creating a seal around the food. This results in a more tender piece of fish or meat. You do however need a considerable amount of salt. For a leg of lamb, you’ll need 3kg. Don’t, though, use your best sea salt for this procedure.

Mix the salt with nine egg whites to create a kind of sticky snow. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees centigrade. Place the leg on an oven tray and cover completely with the sea salt. At this stage, I like to place enough baby potatoes around the base of the tray. Don’t worry if they touch the salt as this will help their flavour. For medium rare, I cook the lamb for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

If you want to cook it medium or beyond I suggest leaving for about 2 hours. The best way to check if it’s done is with a temperature probe: 50 degrees Centigrade (rare), 60 degrees Centigrade (medium) and 70 degrees Centigrade (well done).

Make sure to take the potatoes out after an hour though! Serve at the table. With the back of a large knife, crack open the salt crust and slice into the lamb. I’d add some greens on the side: simply fry some pine nuts and raisins in a little oil and butter, add a large handful of spinach and wilt lightly. Of course, season with a little salt.