Monday, October 20, 2008

Pink Himalayan Herb Salt

Making your own herb salt is easy, fun, and best of all you get to control the indredients. Use your own dried garden herbs or buy organic dried herbs from your local grocers. Showcase a single herb or mix up a number of them to suit your taste.

There are so many great salts on the market these days. My favorites are coarse and fine kosher, Sel de Guerande, Maldon, and a wonderful sel gris with herbs from Zupan's Market in Portland.

I'd never tried pink salt before but after hearing someone rave about it, thought I'd give it a try. I like it! I especially like it mixed with herbs. Both the salt and the herbs used here were purchased at our local Co-op. The herb blend is Frontier's Organic Italian which I often use when my own herbs are in short supply.

Put 1 tablespoon of the salt plus 1 teaspoon of the herbs into a mortar and pestle then grind until the salt is the consistency you desire and the herbs are blended. And that's it. You can use any coarse salt and any combination of herbs you desire to match what you're cooking. The beauty of making your own herb salts is that you can make as little or as much as you want. I'll be posting a few more combinations soon.


Copyright © 2005-2008, Christine Cooks. All rights reserved

10 comments:

  1. Me too. I'll get some. I used the sel gris with herbs you gave me in some of the labneh I made: it was very nice.

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  2. Me three! I want to try the pink salt! ;-)

    Paz

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  3. I've not heard of pink salt, will have to look out for it. I just need a new grinder, my old ones have just given up on me and sea salt seems to mess them up!!
    Anne

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  4. Salt can be very hard on metal grinding mechanisms, Anne. Try to find one with ceramic grinding teeth.

    You're too funny, Paz. I'll bet you will like the pink salt when you find it.

    Isn't that sel gris wonderful, Simona? I bought a pound of it when we were in Portland recently, so I've more to share.

    I'd like to know what you think, Kalyn, when you find the pink salt.

    And lastly, there are other kinds of pink salts being sold in markets and health food stores, many of them not from the Himalayas. Hawaii produces one as does Utah, mined in the mountains. Not that any of them aren't good, but if you want to try what I have you must look for Himalayan.

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  5. The salt grinders here all seem to be fitted with the ceramic mechanisms and they all seem to get stuck up with sea salt. I have tried Malden salt too, that is quite flaky and light, that can be a problem too. I have just ordered some new ones!!
    Anne

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  6. Hello Anne, I'm not sure I would put Maldon salt through a grinder. It's my understanding that it's meant to be sprinkled over a finished dish just as it is. Of course, you may have another kind from mine.
    You might want to try having a small mortar and pestle on hand. You can grind just enough salt you want to use for a meal and put it into a small container that you can pinch from.
    I think most natural sea salts are more moist and should probably not be ground in a salt grinder.

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  7. Hi Christine, I have a big pot of the already ground sea salt beside the cooker. It's strange that most of the grinders say use sea salt but don't say grey or white. I have found the grey more moist. I know what you mean about the Maldon salt it probably is meant to just sprinkled over things but they do seem quite big flakes.
    Anne

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  8. This is too funny~I saw this pink salt all over Paris... never tried it.I did not even think about bringing it home. I just stocked up on my other favorites,Guerande.....adding the herbs to this will give this a new life!

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  9. Hi Jann,
    That's just what the herbs do, give new life to the salt. I'm loving experimenting with them.

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