Salt

"Like the absurdly expensive balsamic vinegars of years past, the plainest of kitchen staples has been elevated to a luxury good. At Williams-Sonoma’s Web site, customers can now spend up to $28 on a 3.5-ounce jar of salt.

Granted, that one contains truffles, while another costing $18 is 5.7 ounces “gently smoked over wood chips from aged oak Chardonnay wine barrels.” The purveyor of fine cooking accessories also sells an 8.8-ounce jar of salt harvested from “the island of Ré, off France’s Atlantic coast, since the seventh century” and a 4-ounce lump from “the foothills of the Himalayas” that you grate yourself. Those are both closer to $10 apiece."

D. sent me this NYT article a while ago, but I haven't gotten around to blogging it. I wonder if it would be possible to make a fleur de sel from Lebanon and market it. I know they make salt in Enfeh, and although I am incapable of telling the difference between the different salts, I will if this can help preserve livelihoods.