To answer the moon salt thing, the highest tides occur during full moon which churns up more minerals in the water and gives a supposedly different taste to the salt.
The whole master of salt thing is exaggarated but the mark of an excellent chef compared to a merely good chef has always been in the ability to master simple things. Thomas Keller, perhaps the top chef in the US speaks about how he will never master hollandaise, a simple sauce consisting of egg yolks, wine vinegar, butter and tarragon. He makes it every day yet he always finds something he can do to make it better.
Salting isn’t just about adding the right quantity, salt often has a complex interplay with other ingredients depending on the timing and method. Chiefly, dry salt acts as a dessicant, drawing moisture out of cells. However, salt in a solution behaves exactly the opposite, rawing moisture into meat and making it more juicy. The trace minerals in salt including potassium and nitrites can have significant effects on the curing process of meats and salt selection is a very important part of caviar making due to the complex interplay of salt and eggs. Salt added early into the cooking process will be absorbed more by the ingredients and is reputed (but not actually confirmed by any tests) to slow down the cooking of beans. Some salts are slightly basic or slightly acidic which can drastically affect the speed of cooking of certain vegtables. Heavily salted water used for blanching vegtables locks in the green colour and prevents leakage of the nutrients into the water.
The texture of salt also plays an important role, different salts sprinkled onto a piece of meat will be absorbed at different rates. Kosher salt (which really should be known as koshering salt) has large, flat crystals which are designed to stick onto the side of meat and speed up the koshering process. Ordinary table salt, on the other hand, is cubic and will simply roll off meat. Salt in crystal form, when eaten, also provides differing textures and flavour release due to their geometry. Fleur de sel from Brittany is prized for it’s light, fluffy structure which, when sprinkled at the last minute over a soup, provides a very gentle, perfumed salt taste as the crystals melt on your tounge. Maldon salt from Britain is prized for it’s large, flat grains which provide a hugely satisfying crunch when sprinkled over a salad.
And that’s just the white salts. Theres grey salt from Geurende, Red salt from Hawaii, Pink salt from Australia, Black salt from India, Orange “Jurassic” salt from Minesota, Smoked Black salt from Denmark… each of which has a very distinctive flavour due to trace chemicals which can’t be duplicated.
Salt is by no means a simple subject and proper salting is one of the defining marks that shows off the true ability of an exceptional chef.
The salt wizard actually showed off a few techniques I’ve never seen or heard of before. The first thing that comes to mind is the salting the paper thing he did. I’m going to play around with the concept some more because I can see the potential.