Section One

In Section One, we learn that the ancients were right to respect the power of salt, as modern industry suggests that there are at least 14,000 known uses for salt, from salting food to melting ice. Over the years, salt was used in sauce or paste condiments rather than adding it directly to the food, it preserves vegetables and even eggs when pickled with a solution of salt and water. Salt was also used by the Chinese to insulate bamboo pipes against rot and to make gunpowder out of salt mixed with sulfur and carbon.