Flavoured Salts

Salt is the most important ingredient in my kitchen. James Beard, who once said, “Where would we be without salt?” might agree. At any given moment I have at least five different salts on hand—and they each have their place. All sit within close reach so I can easily add a flurry of flakes to heighten any dish.

There’s fine salt to make pasta water taste of the sea and bring out the flavour of every ingredient throughout the cooking process. There’s wispy flake salt that adds textural pop to finish a dish, and then there are flavoured salts to add a unique flourish to any recipe.

Flavoured salts, once deemed unnecessary by my judgmental naïveté, have earned a coveted space in our petite kitchen for their ease, practicality, and downright deliciousness. In one quick pinch, you can season and spice any dish.

Flavoured salts are ideal for both cooking and finishing and can easily be made at home to create your own perfect blend. If you need to watch your salt intake, flavoured salts, particularly the ones with a bright, pungent citrus zest, pack more flavour, pinch for pinch, so you can get away with using a little less.

Here are a few of my favourites—salts that I use daily. Feel free to adjust these recipes to suit your particular tastes.

In all of these recipes, I like to use a crisp flake salt, but if you have a favourite salt, feel free to substitute. Just taste and adjust it to your preference, as salt density and salinity vary greatly. Store your salts in an airtight container for up to six months. After that, the spices start to lose their pungency.