As an unapologetic craver of the glorious mineral that is sodium chloride, I firmly believe that anyone who's serious about cooking needs an easily-accessible salt cellar. No other ingredient changes the way you perceive flavours like salt does; while it's rarely the sole seasoning agent in a recipe, it's the most important to get right.

Alison Roman's salted butter chocolate chunk shortbread cookies are everywhere. Bon Appétit, Eater, Nylon, Smitten Kitchen and The New York Times have covered them in glowing detail; The Cookies pop up on my Instagram discover feed literally every day. The best recipes are more than the sum of their parts, but the sheer volume of breathless, googly-eyed reviews suggest that a concerning number of people have lived deprived, salted-butter-cookie-less lives until now.

Why is the sea salty? The short answer is that water dissolves the salts contained in rocks, and these salts are carried in the water to the sea. We take a look at the science.

If you've watched any appreciable number of cooking shows, you've most likely been instructed by some famous chef to "finish" your dish with a drizzle of oil, a sprinkling of salt, or some freshly chopped herbs. "Finishing" a dish, which is quite different than polishing one off, simply means adding those extra flourishes to help the food shine and become its best self.

I like to divide my life into two eras: The time before I knew about preserved lemons and the time after I knew about preserved lemons. Unlike fresh lemon zest or juice, these funky little wedges add a bit of umami along with acidic brightness.

Food writer and Eater's editor-at-large Helen Rosner has the simplest secret-ingredient tip in all of cookendom.

Australian guidelines recommend limiting salt intake to six grams a day or less. The World Health Organisation advises limiting salt even further: to 5g (for adults) and 2g (for children) per day or less. But how much can you get away with before it starts to become seriously unhealthy? Let's take a look at the science.

It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you of a "smart salt shaker" called "The Smalt". Oddly, the shaking aspect of this shaker is still decidedly unplugged -- you still have do all the shaking; Smalt just "tracks" it for you. (And lights up. And plays music.) It is, essentially, the Juicero of seasoning.

Being the seasoned and savvy home cook that you are, you probably know how to make a simple salad dressing without too much trouble. But there's an even easier way to dress a pile of crunchy veggies, and all you really need is some salt.

For well-seasoned chicken breasts, salting the top of the skin isn't enough; you need to get some under the skin as well. Though wiggling your fingers in between the meat and the skin can get the job done, it can be a little awkward, and Cook's Illustrated has devised an easier, neater approach.

Though I never tire of roasted Brussels sprouts, I'm always looking for new ways to consume the little cabbage-like orbs. Shredded sprouts make a nice, sturdy salad base, but they're almost too sturdy. To make salad that's both tender and crisp, you'll need to grab the salt shaker.

A good food gift doesn't need to be an expensive gourmet gift basket, but it should be thoughtful, delicious, and a little unexpected. These edible and drinkable presents are thoughtful and customisable, and will make your gift stand out in a sea of boring fruitcakes.

A squeeze of lime brightens up beverages, fish, tacos, fish tacos and all sorts of other things, but preserving them takes their flavorful impact to great new heights.

Scrambled eggs can either be fluffy and fantastic or sad and rubbery. To make sure they stay on the tender side of things, Cook's Illustrated recommends whisking in salt before the eggs even touch the pan.

At their chemical core, all salt is the same, but many of the fancy, special salts you can find differ in texture, flavour and price. Here's how to know when you should bust out the fancy Himalayan salt, or stick with table or kosher salt.

You guys already know that flavoured salt is a great way to flavour blast your meal, but chicken salt may take things to a whole new level.

What makes a chocolate-covered pretzel such an insanely tasty concoction? The English language is curiously lacking in a word for something that's both sugary and salty, but fortunately science has some answers.

Video: While it's fair to say that most things should be salted to taste, this in-depth experiment suggests that fattier meats require a lot more salt to avoid being bland.

Fruit might sound like an odd food to add salt to, but it can actually bring out the fruit's flavour and aroma, as well as reduce bitterness in unripened fruit or bitter foods like grapefruit.