I got salt for Christmas. I kid you not. But don't feel sorry for me, I asked for it.

On Christmas morning, I opened up several foodie gifts from my lovely family: an apron embellished by my daughter, a book by Michael Pollan, an electric griddle (makes good pancakes!), a gift card to Whole Foods, and a box filled with salts. The apron touched me most deeply, but the salts were my favorite.

Yes, I said salts. Plural.

Check these out.

Hiwa Kai, or Black Hawaiian sea salt. Activated charcoal gives it
its color and minerals. I finally got coal for Christmas!

Smoked sea salt. The best varieties are flavored with natural wood smoke,
 not liquid smoke flavoring.A bit saltier than kosher salt with a strong smoke aroma
and slight smoke flavor. Can't wait to try this on chicken.

Sel gris. Quite salty, slight mineral taste. The minerals come from the clay lining the
salt ponds along France's coast where this is harvested.

Himalayan sea salt. Is often sold in a coarse grain, where its pink color is truly pronounced.
This fine-grained version is only slightly pink, with dots of red throughout. Has a pure
salty flavor and a fairly high mineral content. Good for use at the table.

Alaea Sea Salt (Red Hawaiian). Volcanic red clay is added to the salt to give it its color
and a boost of iron oxide. A good table salt. Clean flavor.

I like to use sea salt instead of regular ol' table salt. Most of the table salt available in the grocery store is mined from rock. After mining, it is refined so that all the minerals are removed and what's left is pure sodium chloride. Sea salt, on the other hand, is minimally processed and retains trace minerals. In addition, sometimes table salt doesn't taste very salty; therefore, it's easy to shake on a little more, thus increasing sodium intake, never a good thing. But sea salt is often quite a bit saltier than table salt; less salt is required for the same flavor. On top of all that, table salts are sprayed with an artificial iodine solution as part of the refining process, while iodine, necessary in the diet for healthy thyroid function, occurs naturally in sea salt.

Best of all, many sea salts come in a coarse variety that doesn't dissolve as easily as table salt. I like to see the grains of salt on my food and I especially like to crunch them.