Compound Salt… AKA: Welcome to Flavor Town!
Compound Salt… AKA: welcome to flavor town… ie. your new secret ingredient!
Compound salts are a home cook’s dream come true, they are easy to make, keep indefinitely, add tons of flavor and they will make your food taste better overnight. Similar to how compound butters are used in professional kitchens to capture the brightness of fresh herbs, compound salts will bring out all the depth of dried spices and make them immediately accessible.
Tools:
Mortar and Pestle (Medium Fine Smoothness) (If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can use an old school coffee grinder, but I think the flavor from the mortar and pestle is better and you should invest in one)
Principle:
Essentially we are making a 60% Salt to 40% Herb mixture, the ratios for individual herbs are up to you, but you need a certain amount of salt and “hard spices” to grind the leafy or “soft spices” down to a uniform dust. We typically use black peppercorns and salt as the hard spices, 10-15 peppercorns per 1/3 cup of salt should be enough to grind your other soft spices down so that your end result is a nice, uniform sized compound salt dust.
Start by adding all your herbs and spices to the mortar, and ½ of your total salt. Crush the peppercorns so they are in broken pieces. Next, work the pestle around the bowl vigorously to grind everything together. As everything becomes a finer and finer dust and doesn’t seem like it’s going to get any smaller, this is when you can add the rest of your salt. Mix well to combine. Store your finished salts in a small airtight container and use liberally at will!
Base Salt: Kosher Diamond Crystal Salt (this is the salt chefs use, because it is less salty than table salt)
Here are a couple of ideas to get you started:
Compound Salt 1: Mediterranean
15 grains Black peppercorns
1/2 Tsp Sweet Paprika
¼ Tsp Smoked Paprika Piccante
½ Tsp Urfa Chilli Flakes
¼ Tsp Black Lime
½ Tsp Desert Fennel
1/3 Cup Salt
Compound Salt 2: Italian Style
15 grains Black peppercorns
1/2 Tsp Sweet Paprika
½ Tsp Desert Fennel
1/3 Cup Salt
½ Tsp Purple Stripe Garlic Powder
½ Tsp Controne Pepper
1 Tsp Turkish Oregano Buds
1/3 Cup Salt