Salt kurlansky pdf

The first edition of the novel was published in January 1st , and was written by Mark Kurlansky. The book was published in multiple languages including English, consists of pages and is available in Paperback format.

Salt is best selling author Mark Kurlansky's story of the only rock we eat. Demand for salt established the earliest trade routes, across unknown oceans and the remotest of deserts: the city of Jericho was founded almost 10, years ago as a salt trading center.

Because of its worth, salt has provoked and financed some wars, and been a strategic element in others, such as the American Revolution and the Civil War. The story of salt encompasses fields as disparate as engineering, religion, and food, all of which Kurlansky richly explores.

Supply and demand would surely enter the discussion here, as would regions able to boost their economic situations by exporting salt to those in need. Kurlansky does have an interesting take on this, which I will discuss below, but there is no doubt that profits played a huge part in the salt business.

Of note, salt was a significant factor in influencing Joseph Smith and Brigham Young in where they might choose to settle, away from the eyes of the majority of the American population in the midth century. Looking for fertile and self-sustaining land, Young found a spot close to Food and business and even religious settlements help pave the way to a discussion of the politics of salt.

As with most things in life, if there is a crack left open or space between crystals, in this case , politics will seep in. The politics of salt are far-reaching and have significant impact since documented history began. Kurlansky discusses the Chinese in the millennia before the Common Era not only capitalising on salt in the region, but regulating its use and distribution across the empire.

Perhaps a sign of things to come, rulers and governments sought to control who could have what, when, and how much, though there was no sense of equality. Far be it from me to inject economic terms here, but regulation most certainly led to a dilution of the free-market economies of these areas, where the capable could profit based on their vested time and interest. Mahatma Gandhi fought the British ban on local procuring and selling of salt, feeling that the people had a right to work for themselves without being suppressed.

It worked, though not until after much struggle and bloodshed. Kurlansky makes an interesting observation throughout the book, that one could always predict that war was on the horizon when militaries began procuring large amounts of salt.

Campaigns of any length would require forethought and planning, as it was not always possible to predict the plentifulness of energy-rich foods. Salting products for long-term use was the key way of doing so, which took not only ingenuity, but also access to salt. In one example, Kurlansky uses the US Civil War, where some were sure Jefferson Davis and the Confederate Army was surely doomed, having no known salt reserves from which to pull.

Salt as a political weapon, albeit one that cannot make you bleed but definitely could cause one to squirm if it got into the wound, no?! The political side of salt also served to create a significant have and have not duality, such that portions of the population or states facing one another were able to elevate prices and quantities to suit their own needs. As with many products, there is no way to completely balance distribution, though one can presume that it is greed that led to as much disparity on the world market, even with something as basic as salt.

Put labour into the mix and politics cannot stay away, begging to regulate or comment on working conditions, hours, and rates of pay. Kurlansky stirs the pot throughout by sprinkling commentaries on these and many other political topics throughout the book, sure to keep the reader thinking. This is my third food-related biography by Kurlansky and I have not read one that has not completely floored me. The subject matter might seem bland or even off-putting, but take the time to explore what Kurlansky has to say and few will drift off from boredom.

The detail Kurlansky takes in his writing seeks to educate and entertain in equal measure, while not drowning the reader in minutiae. Adding historical references and some anecdotes, the reader is taken on this journey and the points being made are further solidified as being fundamental. Kurlansky also shows an interesting habit that becomes apparent to those who have read many of his biographical pieces, pulling on pieces of research at just enough depth to make his point, but expounding on them in another tome.

One can see this with his pieces on salt, cod, and milk, three that I have recently had the pleasure to devour. This interchange of ideas only furthers the hypothesis that everything is interconnected on some level, part of the larger lifeblood of the world in which we live. As with his other pieces, Kurlansky also brings the point home with related recipes embedded in the larger narrative.

This personalises the subject matter and, for most, permits the reader to become actively involved in the topic at hand. Take a whirl and spice up your life! Kudos, Mr. Kurlansky, for never ceasing to amaze me. I know so much more now than I ever thought I could have about common table salt. What may seem so simplistic is shown to be so very exciting, with your lighthearted writing.

I look forward to reading more of your work in short order. This was the first so-called "commodity history" that I've read, and I'm sorry to say it might have turned me completely off the damn things.

I'm not entirely sure why this book is so popular and so widely read, since it strikes me as simply a series of stories by Mark Kurlansky that quickly settle into the same basic mantra, which is: 1 Here is this culture; 2 Like the twenty other cultures I have just introduced to you, salt was also important to this culture; 3 These are the ways they gathered salt; 4 Here is a random sprinkling of recipes involving salt.

Move on to next story. The different stories are not even interwoven, so that halfway through the book I still didn't really know what Kurlansky's point is, unless to underscore his initial point that all animals need salt to live.

But I already knew this before I cracked open the book, and I don't think Kurlansky's additional pages underscoring the subject really added anything useful to my life. Moreover, how can this guy write one book about how Cod changed the world aptly titled Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World , and then turn right around and write another about how salt changed the world?

One wonders if his gimmick isn't getting a bit old. And in any case, can't you name pretty much anything out there and weave a story about how it "changed" the world? Shoelaces, rubber, pencils, ziplock bags. The one thing about the book that was interesting was how it printed all these old school recipes involving salt, salting and brining. The recipes are incredible because of the sheer amount of labor and preparation that they describe.

It's both fascinating and horrifying. No wonder a woman's place used to be in the kitchen, if cooking and eating took so damn long. Spread a layer of this sand, the thickness of your palm, on the bottom of a barrel. Add a layer of clean black currant leaves, dill, and horseradish cut into pieces, followed by a layer of cucumbers.

Cover the cucumbers with another layer of leaves, dill, and horseradish, topped with a layer of sand. Continue in this manner until the barrel is full. The last layer over the cucumbers must be currant leaves, with sand on the very top.

Prepare the brine as follows: For one pail of water, use one and a half pounds of salt. Bring to a boil, cool, and cover the cucumbers completely with the brine. Replenish the brine as it evaporates. Before any kind of salting, cucumbers must be soaked for hours in ice water. Please note that the tricks or techniques listed in this pdf are either fictional or claimed to work by its creator.

We do not guarantee that these techniques will work for you. Some of the techniques listed in Salt: A World History may require a sound knowledge of Hypnosis, users are advised to either leave those sections or must have a basic understanding of the subject before practicing them. DMCA and Copyright : The book is not hosted on our servers, to remove the file please contact the source url.