Salt

Kate Krader has been making these fudgy, sweet-salty brownies since she was 10 years old. As a kid she used regular table salt; now she recommends a flaky sea salt like Maldon, because the flavor is less harsh and it melts so nicely into the batter, accentuating the chocolaty sweetness.

Artan Gjoni loves this succulent fish recipe from his native Montenegro, a coastal country in the former Yugoslavia that harvests both fish and salt from the Adriatic Sea. The salt crust seals in moisture, gently infusing the fish with the bright flavors of parsley, cilantro and rosemary.

Inspired by a snack served at Japanese restaurants, Marcia Kiesel boils udon noodles until they are just al dente, then ties them into small bundles and quickly fries them in a shallow layer of vegetable oil. They are addictively crunchy.

Harvested by hand from the waters off Essex, England, Maldon sea salt crystals have a great crunch and a remarkably subtle, briny flavor. Uncomplicated foods, such as baked potatoes show it off to its best advantage.

For this dish, Corey Lee sources lamb from the Northern California coast that feed predominantly on salty grasses. He likes cooking the meat in a salt crust to echo its naturally briny edge, then garnishing the dish with succulents like sea grapes and sea beans. Baking any good-quality leg of lamb in an herby salt crust at home makes it deliciously tasty and tender, without the need for garnishes.

Chef Matt Molina and his friends had ultrafresh shrimp in the town of Cesenatico on the Adriatic coast. His recipe here re-creates the dish. Roasting the shrimp in hot salt concentrates their sweet flavor.

In this very simple appetizer, Jeremy Fox combines slivers of nori with bits of goat cheese—a clever, tantalizing mix of salty and creamy—then serves the dish with radishes and a sprinkle of smoked salt.

Le Bernardin pastry chef Michael Laiskonis serves this milk-chocolaty dessert in an eggshell with caramel foam; it's known as "the egg." It's just as good in ramekins, topped with a simple caramel sauce blended with maple syrup.

Marcia Kiesel uses pickled cocktail onions to make a fast, tart, crunchy sauce for this succulent salt-baked trout.