Sea Salt

Many who taste Effie's Homemade Oatcakes fall in love with the slightly sweet, buttery, and nutty cracker-cookie. The same goes for crunchy corncakes, made with masa and cornmeal, subtly flavored with anise. Owners and longtime pals Irene Costello and Joan MacIsaac started the Hyde Park company five years ago. Last year, they added a crispy, pecan nutcake with a caramelized flavor, perfect as a tea biscuit. Now, the Effie's ladies have rolled out a line of rustic crackers made with Turkish coarse semolina.

Serves 6 Serve the cheese and fruit with a crusty baguette or grilled flatbread. 8 ounces fresh goat cheese 2 tablespoons good-quality olive oil 1½ cups seedless red grapes, halved 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives 1 tablespoon chive blossoms (optional) 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves Flaky sea salt (such as Maldon) 1. Cut the goat cheese into 10 or more slices and arrange on a serving platter.

CAMDEN, N.J. -- Campbell Soup Co. executives have heard the same thing almost since Andy Warhol was making art out of their cans in the 1960s: Lower the sodium in soup without sacrificing taste, and people will eat more of it. Now, after years of gradually reducing the sodium, the company says it has a breakthrough: Low-sodium sea salt will be used in about 30 soups -- new and reformulated -- scheduled to be on supermarket shelves in...

Planting herbs is only half the fun; the other half is in the kitchen. "I use a ton of them in my cooking because you get those aromatic notes from the warmer herbs, and the fresh cool base coming out of the really green ones," says Jeffrey Fournier, the chef and owner at 51 Lincoln in Newton. He suggests some effective pairings. Parsley Fournier uses whole parsley leaves in salads, or chops handfuls to add to sauteed shrimp with white wine, pasta, butter, and Parmesan. "A great herbaceous note going through the whole dish," he says.

Serves 6 Serve the cheese and fruit with a crusty baguette or grilled flatbread. 8 ounces fresh goat cheese 2 tablespoons good-quality olive oil 1½ cups seedless red grapes, halved 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives 1 tablespoon chive blossoms (optional) 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves Flaky sea salt (such as Maldon) 1. Cut the goat cheese into 10 or more slices and arrange on a serving platter.

Serves 8 4 carrots, cut into matchsticks 4 celery stalks , cut into matchsticks 1 English cucumber, thinly sliced on the diagonal 1 bunch fresh radishes, ends trimmed, radishes halved or quartered 2 Belgian endives, leaves separated 1/2 pound...

CHILAQUILES ROJO Serves 4 Some recipes call for chips, but I find they get soggy. 2 garlic cloves 4 ounces dried chilies, seeded if desired, soaked until soft, and drained, with about 2 cups soaking liquid reserved 1½ teaspoons dried oregano ½ teaspoon ground cumin 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce Salt 3 tablespoons neutral oil 16 stale 6-inch corn tortillas, broken into bite-sized pieces (about 4 cups)...

Makes about 2 pints Use this condiment as is, or for a thinner sauce, strain the mixture through cheesecloth or a fine strainer; discard solids and use the liquid as you would any hot pepper sauce. 12 red cherry peppers, halved and stemmed 12 green cherry peppers, halved and stemmed 6 small red Thai chili peppers, halved and stemmed 1 red bell pepper (optional)

Serves 4 This delightful snack begins with toasted bread, on which you place dark chocolate, which bakes for just a minute until the chocolate starts to melt. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and sea salt. The recipe here was developed by Barcelona chocolatier Enric Rovira, but there are many versions all over Spain. Use the best bread, best chocolate, best olive oil, and best sea salt you can find. 4 large slices crusty bread 6 ounces dark chocolate (at least 70 percent cocoa)

Makes 12 slices or enough to serve 6 Slices of soft goat cheese coated with fresh herbs make a wonderful nibble to keep in your repertoire when unexpected guests call to say they're in town. Serve them as an hors d'oeuvre with wine, or set a round of the cheese beside a salad of lightly dressed greens as an appetizer. Begin with a log of plain, soft goat cheese and cut it into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Finely chop lots of fragrant herbs such as parsley, dill, coriander, lemon thyme, and mint.

Originating the same year as St. Paul's Church, in 1750, Halifax's farmers' market is the oldest continuously running market in North America. Over its history, it bounced between many locales from church basements to breweries. That all changed in November 2010, when local purveyors finally got a permanent home right on the harbor. The 56,000-square-foot multilevel building is open year-round; its hours change depending on the season. The best time to visit is during lunch on a Saturday.

CHILAQUILES ROJO Serves 4 Some recipes call for chips, but I find they get soggy. 2 garlic cloves 4 ounces dried chilies, seeded if desired, soaked until soft, and drained, with about 2 cups soaking liquid reserved 1½ teaspoons dried oregano ½ teaspoon ground cumin 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce Salt 3 tablespoons neutral oil 16 stale 6-inch corn tortillas, broken into bite-sized pieces (about 4 cups)...

Many who taste Effie's Homemade Oatcakes fall in love with the slightly sweet, buttery, and nutty cracker-cookie. The same goes for crunchy corncakes, made with masa and cornmeal, subtly flavored with anise. Owners and longtime pals Irene Costello and Joan MacIsaac started the Hyde Park company five years ago. Last year, they added a crispy, pecan nutcake with a caramelized flavor, perfect as a tea biscuit. Now, the Effie's ladies have rolled out a line of rustic crackers made with Turkish coarse semolina.

GREAT BARRINGTON - Melissa Kushi thinks salt should be a conversation piece, and she has the gorgeous pink specimens to prove it. Walk into her HimalaSalt store here, opened last May, and your eye is caught quickly by the deep pink hues of tableware and other kitchen items, all cut by hand from salt harvested within the Pakistani Himalayas. The store is devoted almost wholly to salt mined in the Himalayasand organic pepper imported by Kushi's other enterprise, Sustainable Sourcing.

An enticing aroma of melting butter and caramelizing sugar fills the air in the kitchen where Tammy Fahey is cooking caramels for Süss Sweets. Steam rises from bubbling cast-iron pots, as Fahey stirs in vanilla and sea salt, and checks the temperature with a candy thermometer. "Timing is critical," she says. When the mixture thickens and cools in pans, she cuts copper-colored logs that yield chewy, not sticky, melting caramels ($6 for 1/4 pound). Flavors include cappuccino, gingerbread, and pumpkin; some are sprinkled with pecans and sea salt.

Parmesan and rosemary, toasted coconut crunch, chipotle barbecue. Hot flavors in the fancy food world have jumped across the aisle landing in an unlikely place: the lowly popcorn bowl. In the last year the all-American snack has undergone a remake, similar to beer and cupcakes, with several local companies crafting the hits at home. "The popcorn industry needs a swift kick in the pants," says Joe Choquette, 37, of J. Drizzle Gourmet Popcorn Co. In a converted garage in Chester, N.H., Choquette is executing the kick with 70 flavors from coffee and cream to...

Serves 4 Maine shrimp are sweet and clean and perfect enough to eat raw, right out of the shell. They also make a simple winter boil. Cook the shrimp whole (heads on, if possible) in a big covered pot with beer, potatoes, a splash of apple cider vinegar, and crushed red pepper. For a more substantial dish, add a couple of cooked spicy chicken sausages or turkey kielbasa to the pot. Serve bowls with plenty of sea salt, lemon wedges, and lots of napkins. Guests peel shrimp as they eat. Succulent and tiny Maine shrimp are inexpensive and in season until the middle of spring.

Serves 8 2 pounds sweet potatoes 1/4 cup olive oil 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground piment d'Espelette or dried Anaheim chilies or ground mild chili pepper Fleur de sel or sea salt (for sprinkling) 1. Set the oven at 500 degrees.

Makes 36 ½ cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature 1 cup brown sugar ½ cup maple syrup 2 eggs 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats 1 ½ cups whole-wheat flour 1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional) Sea salt (for sprinkling) 1. Set the oven at 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Makes 1 large rectangle With a short rising time and not much kneading, focaccia is a great project for novice bakers and wonderful to set out with big platters of grilled food. The dough begins very wet, almost soupy. Wet dough turns light and tender in the oven, so resist adding more flour. Be generous when oiling the pan; extra oil heightens the crunch. Sprinkle the top with herbs and oil after the first rising, and use your fingertips to gently dimple the bread. BREAD Olive oil (for the pan)