Salt of the Earth

I love salt. If you ask me what item I would totally be lost without in the kitchen, those little white granules are my number one power player.

Salt has an amazing history, as it often was used as a preservative and as a vital component to trading. There are a variety of salts around the world, ranging from Pink Himalayan to basic Kosher salt, which can be found at almost any market.

I found from an early age that it is salt that defines the flavors in a dish. Pepper can spice it up, but salt seems to blend in, find the good things in any dish and bring them forth on your palette. Sure, I may oversalt from time to time, but better to overdo it and get all the flavors than to have a bland plate of food (a salute to Tre from Top Chef Masters, one of my fave shows – Tom Colicchio may not have your back, but I do).

Sure, it’s gotten a bad reputation in the health world. But I don’t really care. I don’t mind hanging out with bad reputation people (or spices), when the truth is that it’s the heart of everything that matters.

There was another person in my life who liked salt just as much as I do. Regina Amira, my Nony, would make sure that everything was carefully salted. It seemed like everything she did tasted just right. And she loved salt with her foods.

There was a joke that her doctors were trying to get Nony away from salt due to her heart problems. They tried for years. Then, once she reached a certain age, my mother said, “Let her have what she wants. She wants salt? She can have it.” Nony probably would never have imagined the different types of salt that I use, but would have been extremely fascinated.

Nony was a “salt of the earth” person. Although I know that there is a reference to Christianity, from the “Salt and Light” sermon from the book of Matthew, there is debate about the original source of this phrase, including from the books of Prophets and even Exodus. But what I know about it is that the phrase means someone who is wise, humble, decent and not pretentious. It is the root of all that is good on this planet.

I thought of her as I was driving home the other day. I had heard people talking about how they are throwing their money around – on parties, trips across the world and whatnot – and thought about my life. I wondered if these people knew about suffering. Had they ever not had money, or someone to take care of them? As I recounted my younger years in Northern California, where my parents almost lost their home and were struggling to feed us, could they grasp what this meant?

Up until the age of 13, my parents fought to make ends meet. And there were Joe and Regina Amira, Papu and Nony, standing right behind them and helping in any way that they could. Kind, decent people who may not have had a lot of money in the lives, but knew in the end what counted. They fed us and nurtured us, doing their best to make sure that we would be like them – the salt of the earth, making the world better by being a source of goodness.

Salt means so much more than just for cooking. I know this because I have watched how, when we eat our bread on Friday nights, except for during the High Holy Days, we dip it in salt. It represents the tears we have shed, the humility to go with the pride of our puffed-up loaves. It’s something we seem not to remember as Jews, when we want to discuss our fancy new things, our richer-than-chocolate cake trips and ask people for money for “charitable causes.” We seem to pretend it doesn’t exist, or perhaps we forget.

Please do not forget where we came from. We should all aspire to be salt of the earth; do good and and be humble, quietly accenting the things around us.

So in honor of that sentiment, I am going to post a recipe that uses salt to bring out the sweet elements. In a way, this is a salt-of-the-earth recipe -- although I am now thinking about perfecting a salt-crusted fish.

ONION TART

3-4 yellow onions

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 garlic clove

2 tablespoons salt

1 pie crust

1 container semi-soft herbed cheese, like Alouette

1 small mozzarella cheese

Slice the onions into rings and mince the garlic clove. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Once heated, add the onions and garlic. Add the salt over, and mix slightly. Keep mixing as the onions begin to reduce. Just in case you don’t know, this is carmelizing your onions.

Once the onions are slightly reduced, cook the pie crust according to package directions. Once cooked, spread alouette on the bottom, allowing to melt slightly. Add the onions on top.

Slice the mozzarella cheese and place on top of the onion. Put the oven to broil and place the tart into the oven. Check to make sure the crust doesn’t burn and the cheese is melted after one minute. If not, check once a minute to make sure it doesn’t burn. Serve hot.