Over the weekend, Brian purchased an exciting  new cooking tool: a 9x9x2 block of pink Himalayan salt.

Salt blocks come in all different shapes and sizes, and can be used for both cooking and serving. Brian headed down to The Meadow on Hudson St. in the West Village to purchase his. He also purchased the book Salt Block Cooking by Mark Bitterman which contained tips on handling, cooking and cleaning with a salt block as well as a ton of recipes.

For his first salt block cooking experiment he made Seared Scallops & Pancetta Wrapped Shrimp with a Thai Lime Dipping Sauce.

'Cooking with a salt block is definitely a bit testy. Before you can even start cooking, it takes close to an hour just to heat up. There are tons of tips and tricks to make sure that you're heating the block properly and on food preparation. The block heats to about 500 degrees, so you're basically just searing anything you cook on it. Some of the things that I would recommend are:'

• Make sure you purchase a high quality block of salt. Same as buying a pan, if you spend a little more money it'll provide a better cooking experience and last longer.
• Read about it before you use it. There are tons of little tips about heating, cleaning, cooking, etc. that will ensure your salt block will have a longer lifespan.
• Be patient. It takes a long time to heat up and it's a very different cooking experience, so be sure you're prepared to dedicate yourself to spending a decent amount of time in the kitchen.

Needless to say, the food turned out excellent. 'It'll take a bit getting used to, but I'm excited to use the salt block much more often for cooking. It just adds such incredible flavor to a dish,' says Brian.

Have you ever cooked with a Salt Block before? Let us know and be sure to add Salt Block Cooking to your skills on your Harri Profile (and even upload a few pictures!).