- Kurlansky, Mark.
Salt: A World History.
New York: Penguin Books, 2002. ISBN 0-14-200161-9.
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You may think this a dry topic, but the history of salt is a
microcosm of the history of human civilisation. Carnivorous animals
and human tribes of hunters get all the salt they need from the meat
they eat. But as soon as humans adopted a sedentary agricultural
lifestyle and domesticated animals, they and their livestock had an
urgent need for salt—a cow requires ten times as much salt as a human.
The collection and production of salt was a prerequisite for
human settlements and, as an essential commodity required by every
individual, the first to be taxed and regulated by that chronic
affliction of civilisation, government. Salt taxes supported the
Chinese empire for almost two millennia, the Viennese and Genoan trading
empires and the Hanseatic League, precipitated the French Revolution
and India's struggle for independence from the British empire. Salt
was a strategic commodity in the Roman Empire: most Roman cities were built
near saltworks, and the words “salary” and “soldier” are both derived
from the Latin word for salt. This and much more is covered in this
fascinating look at human civilisation through the crystals of a
tasty and essential inorganic compound composed of two poisonous
elements. Recipes for salty specialities of cultures around the world
and across the centuries are included, along with recommendations
for surviving that “surprisingly pleasant” Swedish speciality
surströmming (p. 139): “The only remaining
problem is how to get the smell out of the house…”.
February 2005 