These holders are worth their weight in salt

There’s more to salt than just the shaker. In stores across the East Valley, salt boxes, salt cellars, salt pigs and open salts are hitting the shelves, threatening to inch out their shaker cousins.

There’s more to salt than just the shaker.

In stores across the East Valley, salt boxes, salt cellars, salt pigs and open salts are hitting the shelves, threatening to inch out their shaker cousins.

Shakers replaced the salt cellar in the 1950s, according to most histories we found, when moisture-absorbing agents were added to salt, allowing it to be ground and flow freely.

Before that, salt came in the form of cakes or large granules that were too big to dispense through tiny holes.

With celebrity chefs and TV personalities such as Ina Garten and Michael Chiarello touting the subtle taste of different salts and encouraging their viewers to try a variety of rock and flake versions — from the gray sea salts of France to Peruvian pink salt — the cellar is making its comeback.

In the photo

Clockwise from top left:

THIS AZURE EMILE HENRY SALT PIG ($34) is perfect for keeping salt close at hand while you’re cooking. It keeps salt dry and it’s easy to reach into for a pinch or to add a few teaspoons to a recipe. At select Sur La Table stores in the Valley.

ADD VARIETY TO YOUR COOKING WITH THIS STACKABLE SALT BOX ($29.95), allowing you to keep three varieties of salt close at hand. They’re made from acacia wood, which is a great renewable resource. At Sur La Table or in select stores.

THIS CERAMIC WHITE JAR ($6.99) has a rubber ring on its lid to keep moisture out of the salt. The olive design gives the jar a Tuscan feel and will look great displayed on a countertop. Available at select Cost Plus World Market stores. Use your creativity when it comes to serving and displaying unusual salts.

THESE BUTTER PATS AND DIPPING DISHES (traditionally used to serve soy sauce with sushi) are perfect for bringing salt to the table. $1.99-$2.99, at Cost Plus World Market.

OPEN SALTS HAVE BECOME HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE and are available at many antique stores and flea markets at a variety of prices. We found this collection of cut glass salts at the Antique Plaza on Main Street in downtown Mesa for between $6.99 and $15.99 each. A mismatched collection looks great scattered across a dinner table to give guests easy access to their seasonings.