You are told to "add salt and pepper to taste" or "end with a sprinkling of sea salt" in a great deal of recipes. What if, however, we could incorporate herbs into every last touch? And what if this routine made our food's flavors even richer and more enticing? The usage of herbal culinary salts is very underutilized and extremely simple. I'll cover all the fundamentals in this article so you can produce your own herbal culinary salts at home and start impressing your dinner guests.
Creating Your Own Herbal Culinary Salts: 2 Steps
1. Selecting Salt
Consider the foundation of your blend: salt, before we get into the specifics of the herbs! The flavor and nutritional profile of your mix may change significantly depending on the type of salt you use. While classic white sea salt is always a fantastic and convenient choice, keep in mind the various qualities, advantages, and flavors that other sea salt varieties have to offer.
Making Your Own Herbal Culinary Salts at Home | Herbal Academy By creating your very own DIY herbal culinary salts, you may start upping the ante at mealtime. They are pleasant to use and super simple to prepare!
Details on a handful of the more widespread types are provided below:
Hispanic Pink
This sea salt has tints that range from pale pink to dark rose to deep crimson. Himalayan Pink salt, which was created around 600 million years ago when a large inland sea evaporated, has a stunning color palette because to numerous trace minerals that have been trapped in the salt crystal matrix, including iron, magnesium, copper, and potassium (Bitterman, 2013).
Irish Gray
Celtic gray sea salt has a distinctive flavor that is mineral-rich and blue-gray in hue. This salt, which originates in Brittany, France, receives its distinctive hue from the earthen clay that it is extracted from. Traditional applications for it in cooking include adding a finishing touch to savory foods and finely grinding it and adding it to baked goods to bring out the "richness" of other flavors (Bitterman, 2010).
African Hawaiian
Black Hawaiian sea salt is jet black in color, but it receives its distinctive shade from activated charcoal that is added during or after the drying process is finished. The sea salt's color is unaffected by the fact that it is historically produced by evaporating over volcanic soils (hence its other common names, "volcanic" or "lava" salt) (Bitterman, 2010). It has an earthy, somewhat tanning flavor.
Flower of salt
This distinctive sea salt, which translates as "flower of the salt," is created by evaporating saline water outside using the power of the wind and sun (Bitterman, 2010). These salts are able to resist rapidly dissolving when sprinkled over a plate of steaming food because they already contain a significant amount of moisture. As a result, the flavor profile will be stronger and the salt will still have a hint of crunch.
Hawaiian Red
Red Hawaiian sea salt is available in a variety of colors, from brick red to light to dark salmon. Hawaiian sea salts that are red are high in iron, as their color suggests. Similar to black Hawaiian sea salt, the red volcanic clay, known as Alaea, that is combined with the salt during natural evaporation in tidal pools gives the salt its color instead of the salt itself. These salts have an oceanic flavor with a mineral undertone (Bitterman, 2010).
Arabic Blue
Persian blue sea salt's light sky blue hue speaks to its delicate, smooth, and subtly sweet flavors. Although it contains several trace minerals, the salt is naturally compressed over a lengthy period of time to give it its distinctive blue color. Persian blue sea salt is expensive and regarded as one of the more uncommon sea salts on the market (Bitterman, 2010).
Smoked
Despite having no additional nutritional value, smoked sea salt has a rich, distinctive flavor that chefs all over the world love. Normal smoking of sea salt takes place at a low temperature over hot coals. This causes the salt to turn a mild shade of tan or gray (Bitterman, 2010).
2. Inspiration from herbs
It's time to choose your herbs after thinking about your sea salt foundation! Similar advice can be used to create the herbal component of your culinary salt blend in my post How To Make A Nutritive Tea. When you develop your formula, let me encourage you to be inventive because you are the expert on your own palette.
These are some herbal combinations and simples you can use or get ideas from:
Nettles (Urtica dioica) (Urtica dioica)
Sage (Salvia officinalis), oregano (Origanum vulgare), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) (Salvia spp.)
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) (Curcuma longa)
Spirulina and moringa (Moringa oleifera) (Arthrospira platensis)
Taraxacum officinale, sometimes known as dandelion leaf, interacts nicely with nutritional yeast.
a mixture of various seaweeds and algae, including bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus), nori flakes (Porphyra umbilicalis), and bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana).
Spearmint and lavender (Lavandula officinalis) (Mentha spicata)
rosemary, sage, and juniper berries (Juniperus communis)
Lemon peel (Citrus limon), coriander (Coriandrum sativum), caraway, fennel seeds (Foeniculum vulgare), sliced ginger (Zingiber officinale), and lemon peel (Carum carvi)
rosy petals (Rosa spp.)
Homemade Recipes for Herbal Salt
Making your own herbal culinary salt is a very simple procedure, but having a few tips and tricks on hand might help.
Start by consuming less salt: Using herbal culinary salts is a terrific method to reduce your salt intake without sacrificing the flavor of your favorite foods. A good rule of thumb for blending is to use 1 part powdered or roughly ground dried herb to 1/2 to 1 part sea salt. Use about a third of a portion of sea salt when blending your concoction at first, and then taste it and adjust the salt as needed. Keep in mind that after salt has been added to the mixture, it cannot be removed; however, salt may be increased to taste.
Choose An Herbal Focus: Picking a herbal focus is a fantastic idea when determining which herbs to utilize for your homemade herbal culinary salts. This could be a herbal effect that supports digestion, reduces inflammation, or boosts nutrition. As with the recipe for the emerald green salt blend below, you may also concentrate your formula on a certain color.
Employ Fresh Or Dry Herbs: You may make your own homemade herbal culinary salts using either fresh or dry herbs! Learn how to make herbal culinary salts using the two recipes below, and then use those skills to create your own blend of sea salt and herbs. If you opt to utilize fresh or dry herbs, shelf life should remain roughly the same.
Mix and Match Your Salts: If you find yourself drawn to a variety of sea salts, go ahead and combine them all in one batch! Or, divide your recipe in half and use half one type of salt and half a different kind.
Play Around With Various Consistencies: You can experiment by combining or not combining your herbs and salts. You have two texture options for your herbs and salts: coarsely chopped and "coarse" or finely powdered and added to a shaker.
Keep Learning & Imagining: It's a good idea to keep an open mind when conducting most at-home herbal experiments. If the herbs you selected don't wind up complementing each other as well as you anticipated, record this and think about whether you could change your formula to make it more balanced and tasty. Yet, don't be scared to also try those outlandish combinations you've been thinking of! Be inventive when making your herbal culinary salt concoctions. When you are first testing and perfecting your recipes, make smaller batches to reduce waste in the event that one formula cannot be adjusted.
Try These 2 Homemade Herbal Culinary Salt Recipes
Want some motivation to get going? Here are two distinct processes and recipes for creating homemade herbal culinary salts.
Recipe for Emerald Salt Mixture taken from Mountain Rose Herbs.
1 part dried nettle seeds or leaves
Dried rosemary leaf in two pieces
1 part dry oat straw or alfalfa (Medicago farfara) (Avena sativa)
1 part dried oregano or thyme leaf
12 part coarse Celtic gray or Himalayan pink sea salt
Directions
Before putting all of the herbs in a bowl, measure out the appropriate amount of each herb (each "part" could be a teaspoon, tablespoon, cup, etc.), and then pulverize each herb separately in a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder.
To measure the amount of the herbal mixture, use a measuring cup, spoons, or kitchen scale. This measurement is divided in half. The amount of sea salt you will use in your recipe depends on the outcome. (For example, if you have approximately 1/2 cup of powdered herbs, you will need approximately 1/4 cup of sea salt.)
Sea salt and the mixture of herbal powders should be combined.
Reintroduce this combination to the grinder and pulse a few times to thoroughly blend the salt grains and herbal powder. Depending on your desire, you can either leave the salt mixture somewhat on the coarser side or grind it very finely.
Place the mixture into an airtight glass container, a salt grinder, or a salt shaker.
Recipe for Lemon-White Sage Finishing Salts taken from Holly Bellebuono's The Healing Kitchen.
Ingredients
1 handful of fresh, whole sage (Salvia spp (use any variety of your choice)
One cup of pink Himalayan sea salt, coarse
two tablespoons of freshly grated lemon zest
Directions
In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir to thoroughly blend.
Option 1: Spread the ingredients out to dry for 2 to 4 days on a tray or baking sheet with sufficient airflow. If at all feasible, set your tray under a ceiling fan. The salt accelerates the drying process while absorbing both the flavor and moisture from the herbs (Bellebuono, 2016).
Option 2: Use the oven method to dry things more quickly. Set the oven's heat to the lowest setting and turn it on. Spread the ingredients evenly after pouring it onto a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the oven while, if necessary, keeping the door slightly open with a prop (such as a wooden spoon with a long handle). While stirring frequently, allow the mixture to cook for a few hours. When the herbs are finished, they need to be crisp and dry. After removing the baking sheet from the oven, let it cool fully. (Note that while this approach is quicker, some of the herbs' essential oils will evaporate, reducing the flavor and scent overall.)
You might choose to mill your herbal culinary salts in a coffee or herb grinder before storing them to achieve the proper consistency after the combination has dried.
Use your herbal culinary salts as needed on your preferred foods after storing them in an airtight glass jar.
Now Is The Time To Blend!
Are you feeling motivated to experiment with creating your own homemade herbal culinary salts? The possibilities are unlimited with so many different sea salt and herbal alternatives!
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