Agent Salt

The objective of the festival is to highlight a variety of salts,from the Hawaiian red volcanic salt and the Himalayan pink salt to the Danish Viking smoked salt and the grey Sale Grigio di Bretagna. Seven salt types divide the menu into sections,with dessert — featuring smoked salt with Belgian chocolate,and salted apple and pecan crumble — as the eighth.

Chefs across the world have a good word for the the inky-hued Hawaiian black lava salt. It’s also one that throws a bit of a challenge,its strong flavours could easily smother light dishes like poultry. The Grilled Cheese platter at Seville pairs it with two equally strong cheeses,Scarmoza and Chevere,on pumpkin pancakes. The result is an assortment of flavours of two robust cheeses,with the salt contributing a definite line of its own,heightening tastes but not overpowering them.

In contrast,the Blue Salt of Persia has a tantalising look and appearance. Among its white crystals shine a barely-there blue tinge; among its saltiness,dances a mild sweetness. Chef Neeraj Tyagi of Seville has created a dish called Caspian Sea Black Cod,pairing the fish’s oily,flaky and slightly sweet taste and blue salt with salutary effect. The fish has been pan-fried not grilled,and shorn of the frills of herbs,it wins through its own taste.

Another salt variety is the buttery,sweet Cyprus salt flakes,which features in Rigatoni a’la Amerticianna,a tomato sauce-based pasta with pork cured using Cyprus salt flakes. If,in the high definition flavours of tomato,pasta,aromatic herbs and spices,you wonder what difference the Cyprus salt makes,don’t worry. The chef will point out properties of the salts to diners who want to know more. Clearly,there’s more to salt than the tongue can taste. After all,Angelina Jolie wasn’t named Sugar in a recent Hollywood hit.

The festival will be on from November 4-27

Address: Sevilla,The Claridges,

12 Aurangzeb Road

Meal for two: Rs 3,000 (plus taxes)

Contact: 9871384038

(The writer was a guest of Sevilla,The Claridges)