Why does salt used for fish dishes have the shape of large "flakes" instead of small corns of salt, as normal table salt?

Question

There is salt made specifically for fish dishes. I've used it a few times in the past, but while there is nothing wrong with the taste of the "flake salt", it is a very disturbing feeling to be eating fish meat and constantly feel these "crunches" from the salt flakes... or are they bones?

This leads me into my personal, very seriously meant theory: the salt is shaped like that specifically to conceal possible existing fish bones in the fish, so that the eater can't tell the difference and, supposedly, enjoy the meal without worrying about the bones.

Those small, thin bones are the reason why I stopped eating fish. Every time I took a bite, I couldn't enjoy it at all because I feared, and continuously encountered, such instances. The worst part is that I actually like the taste of the fish dishes, but can no longer eat it because they apparently still don't have the technology to verify that there are 0% bones left in the piece of meat that they sell to consumers. I would happily pay a premium price to get a "verified bone-free" fish to eat. Maybe some sort of scanning would be feasible?

Answer 1

There are a variety of different salts that home and restaurant cooks use. They all basically taste the same. The variety allows for different applications, and generally for different textures. While table salt is very popular, it is generally avoided in recipes and certainly in restaurant kitchens. The fine grind is difficult to dose. In the US, at least, a large number of chefs are calibrated to use Diamond Crystal Salt. It can be picked up with the fingers and seen when it hits food, allowing one to calibrate its use. Flake salt is generally used for finishing a dish, and when one desires a textural element. It is certainly not to hide fish bones. Those should always be removed when the diner is expecting fish to be boneless. When cooking at home, if you don't like the textural experience flake salt brings, simply replace it with a finer ground salt.