Raggy, kosher salt is coarse culinary salt free of additives such as iodine. It can be either mined salt or sea salt. The name — which I think is peculiar to North America — comes from its use in dry-brining meats, a traditional technique of Jewish cookery; it’s not produced under the supervision of rabbis.

Recipes that call for it often come from commercial sources, especially restaurants. It’s preferred for its flavour — none of the metallic aftertaste some people pick up from iodized salt — and its rough texture, which produces the crackly effect of the skin of the very best jacket spuds. A recipe that calls for kosher salt might not taste right if made with ordinary salt, which runs more grams to the teaspoon — commercial cooks typically weigh all their ingredients.