Ep 4. Salt

Lidia's Kitchen season 4 episode 4 titled "Salt" is the perfect guide to elevating one's dish with the use of the essential ingredient of salt. The episode showcases Lidia sharing her favorite recipes of dishes enhanced with salt. Lidia believes that salt is the fundamental seasoning in cooking, and mastering the use of salt is vital for any dish's success.

In this episode, Lidia starts with the classic Italian dish, Risotto alla Milanese. She explains the importance of adding salt to the dish as it cooks to achieve the perfect flavor. Lidia uses her method of adding a small amount of salt at a time and then tasting continuously to get the right amount of salt into the dish. The result is a creamy, comforting, and perfect risotto.

Next up is an appetizer that is easy to prepare and extremely flavorful. Lidia prepares a dish of Ghost Shrimp with Lemon and Salt, which is inspired by one of the most popular street foods in Italy. Lidia sautés the shrimp with garlic, lemon, and chilies to give it that Italian flavor, and then adds salt to round out the dish's flavors. This dish is easy to recreate, and Lidia makes it even more accessible by using easily available ingredients.

Lidia then showcases a seafood stew that is full of flavor, combining different varieties of seafood, herbs, and passata. She uses Florio Marsala wine, which is a Sicilian dessert wine, to add sweetness to the dish while the salt brings out the flavors of the seafood. The dish is a perfect example of how a good balance of sweetness and saltiness can create magic in a dish.

In the next segment, Lidia prepares a Pork Loin roast, which is incredibly simple to make, but with the right technique, it can be both juicy and flavorful. Lidia explains how to salt the pork loin to enhance the flavors, and then she roasts it in the oven to get the perfect texture. Lidia recommends that the pork should be perfectly pink and juicy on the inside with a crispy, perfectly browned crust on the outside.

Lastly, Lidia prepares a classic Italian dessert, Panna Cotta, which is an all-time favorite of both Italians and non-Italians alike. Lidia shares her technique of infusing the cream with vanilla bean and then adding salt to cut through the richness of the cream. The result is an amazingly smooth, silky dessert that is simple but full of flavor.

Overall Lidia's Kitchen season 4 episode 4 "Salt" is an excellent guide to demonstrate how to use salt in cooking in the right way. Lidia shares some of her favorite recipes which are unpretentious and easy to make, but they are incredibly delicious. The episode can help home cooks to master the use of salt in cooking and take their dishes to the next level.