It all started with a Starz trial. Within 30 days I had watched every episode of Sweetbitter, a TV series based on a novel of a young woman named Tess who moves to New York from a small town and lands a trial run as a back waiter in a high-end restaurant in Union Square. Cut to: the end of Season 1, Episode 1, aptly named ‘Salt,’ where she’s hyperventilating in the kitchen hallway after her first whirlwind day. The bad-boy bartender, Jake, leads her to a dark pantry where he offers her a de-shelled oyster. We’re then shown a very beachy montage of her rushing thoughts before Jake asks, “What do you taste?” She responds, “Salt. Can I have another?” before the scene cuts to black.

People who truly love oysters taste more than just salt—we’re tasting the whole ocean in one gulp (and perhaps we see that beachy montage, too). Metallic, sweet and mineraly all come to mind, but the oyster’s essence? Salt. After Sweetbitter, I became hyper-curious about Salt, and started reading Mark Kurlansky’s book, Salt: A World History, where I learned (among other illuminating facts) how crucial this mineral was (food preservation, curing of hides, wound healing) and is (pH balance, fluid regulation, nerve & muscle function) to our survival.

Even though salt is essential to life, it also brings food to life. It would be awful to imagine the salt-forward food represented in each painting without it.

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