Dives deep into a very detailed history of salt, with fascinating historical references and cultural implications. Just a bit slow and dry at times. Took a while to digest.

Felt like it could be edited into a good New Yorker article.

After reading Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky, I was amazed at the importance of salt throughout human evolution. Evidence of salt mining goes back thousands of years, and at some points salt has been so valuable that it has been used as currency. Interestingly, the value of salt fluctuates both in terms of supply and demand and trendiness. In ancient and even more recent times, the whiter, the more expensive, and the darker, the cheaper and less in demand. The trend now is to pay more for salt colored by impurities that make it red, pink, gray, or black vs traditionally preferred white salt. As Kurlansky says in the last chapter, “Fixing the true value of salt, one of earth’s most accessible commodities, has never been easy.”

Read more like facts.

Did I learn a lot about salt?
Yes.

That’s why I gave it 3 instead of 2.