Flavoured salt.

[Outdated]

There should be a cooking section in the forum, the topic pops up often enough.

I use a mortar and pestle to grind herbs and spices together to make rubs for meats and seasonings for all sorts of other foods. I love the different smells as I'm doing it too, but there's a catch with that. If you have a very strong smell coming off of what you're grinding then that's all it's flavoursome essential oils floating off in the air. That's why we don't grind herbs and spices by themselves but instead grind them in to either salt or fat. Something that will absorb all of those essential oils, that flavour.

In the picture below it's about 65% salt, but with black pepper, sweet paprika, ginger and a little curry powder, and mixed herbs, that's the rub for tonight's roast beef.

 

[VictorR]

I'm quite partial to Maldon smoked salt

If I'm mixing it with something, it's most likely to be dried/grounded kelp, of which we have a number of varieties available locally - I often like using a combination of bull kelp and kombu.

 

[Mary Terry]

I zest lemons, limes and other citrus fruits directly over the bowl of ingredients that I want the zest to be in. It captures much more of the essential oils than zesting over a cutting board and then scraping it up to add it to the bowl.

 

[TBRS1]

Have you ever used red sumac berries in a rub?

Citrus/tangy, and perfect for chicken and pork. Also, very common, and totally free.

 

[Outdated]

Have you ever used red sumac berries in a rub?

I've never heard of them. The only red berries that grow natively here are deadly poisonous.

 

[Mary Terry]

Have you ever used red sumac berries in a rub?

Citrus/tangy, and perfect for chicken and pork. Also, very common, and totally free.

I buy Middle Eastern spice mixes that contain sumac but am wary of just picking red sumac from trees where I live. There's a variety of sumac called "poison sumac" that grows here that people say is worse than poison ivy if you get it on your skin. The poisonous kind may have white berries rather than red berries, but I'm not taking any chances!

 

[Outdated]

There's a popular blend in Australia known as Chicken Salt. That's usually put on hot chips, (fries) and many other fried foods, incredibly popular here. A lot of people think that chicken salt means there's chicken stock in the mix, but there isn't. It's a seasoning for putting on the chicken before you cook it.

The only real commercial brand of chicken salt is Mitani, made in Adelaide. All the other brands put chicken stock in it and it doesn't taste anywhere near as good. The Mitani Chicken Salt is actually a vegan product.

 

[TBRS1]

I buy Middle Eastern spice mixes that contain sumac but am wary of just picking red sumac from trees where I live. There's a variety of sumac called "poison sumac" that grows here that people say is worse than poison ivy if you get it on your skin. The poisonous kind may have white berries rather than red berries, but I'm not taking any chances!

Yup - understand. I get a weird feeling every time I eat a new mushroom.

It's true - the white berries are poison sumac. Avoid them for sure. The red berries are very edible, though. I'm pretty sure more people would wild harvest it if they weren't nervous of the poison variety. Very commonly used in the middle east.

 

[TBRS1]

I've never heard of them. The only red berries that grow natively here are deadly poisonous.

Here, sumac shrubs grow wild in every bit of open ground that isn't being actively mowed - vacant city lots, roadsides, neglected fields, just everywhere.

 

[Thinx]

I like putting herbs on salads, fresh and sometimes homegrown. Fennel is a favourite, also basil of various kinds. Chives. And edible flowers, especially nasturtiums.

 

[lovely_darlingprettybaby]

There should be a cooking section in the forum, the topic pops up often enough.

I use a mortar and pestle to grind herbs and spices together to make rubs for meats and seasonings for all sorts of other foods. I love the different smells as I'm doing it too, but there's a catch with that. If you have a very strong smell coming off of what you're grinding then that's all it's flavoursome essential oils floating off in the air. That's why we don't grind herbs and spices by themselves but instead grind them in to either salt or fat. Something that will absorb all of those essential oils, that flavour.

In the picture below it's about 65% salt, but with black pepper, sweet paprika, ginger and a little curry powder, and mixed herbs, that's the rub for tonight's roast beef.

View attachment 127528

That sounds good, I do not like things too flavoursome but more natural and on the bland side, I think the fruits and vegetables and the flavours of them speak for themselves.
You just have to adjust your tastebuds and get used to it.
I hardly like food these days because everything just insults my senses and some things are too heavy etc.
Good to eat seasonal too.
When I was younger I enjoyed chips and chicken salt which is very Australian.

 

[jsilver256]

I discovered Better Than Bouillon Roasted Garlic Base. You probably can find it in your grocery store near where the chicken stock is. It's kind of a paste where roast garlic marries salt, and I've been stirring it into everything. The Chicken Base version is just as good - umami salt paste.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

Yup - understand. I get a weird feeling every time I eat a new mushroom.

It's true - the white berries are poison sumac. Avoid them for sure. The red berries are very edible, though. I'm pretty sure more people would wild harvest it if they weren't nervous of the poison variety. Very commonly used in the middle east.

Wow! Another wild mushroom connoiseur!

When I lived in the north (US) there were lots of red sumac berries. We made "lemonade" with them.

I don't think the middle eastern sumac (za-atar) is the same as the US red sumac. It tastes similar, but really quite different.

Not so many sumacs in south Florida. But, if I find some I will definitely try them in a rub. Thanks, Outdated.

 

[Mary Terry]

I like putting herbs on salads, fresh and sometimes homegrown. Fennel is a favourite, also basil of various kinds. Chives. And edible flowers, especially nasturtiums.

The redbud trees are blooming here now. The flowers are edible, taste slightly like citrus and are pretty sprinkled on a salad.

 

[Forest Cat]

I've never heard of them. The only red berries that grow natively here are deadly poisonous.

Australia. Even the berries wants you dead.

 

[Metalhead]

If Flavor Flav disses somebody in a rap, does that qualify as flavored salt?

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I enjoy Sal de Gusano; Sea salt with toasted agave worms and chili. Developed a taste for it in Oaxaca and love it with Mescal.

 

[Thinx]

I enjoy Sal de Gusano; Sea salt with toasted agave worms and chili. Developed a taste for it in Oaxaca and love it with Mescal.

Toasted worms? Wriggly worms? Are you a Klingon???

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

Toasted worms? Wriggly worms? Are you a Klingon???

The agave worms are the larvae of moths. They are toasted and ground with the chili and salt. Sal de Gusano has a lot of umami and having a little with a sip of Mescal is very tasty. Having lunch and dinner in Oaxaca I always had a small glass of Mescal. I really like it more than Tequila (from Northern Mexico).

Oaxaca is a festival of Food, Art, and Mescal. Plus there is Monte Alban, a hilltop Zapotec complex. The Zapotec had sunken plazas protected from breezes that would be flooded and used as a reflector to study the heavens. I have only seen one other ruin that had that feature. It was North of San Miguel de Allende. Mexico has an incredibly rich history.

 

[Outdated]

We have a local herb here called Salt Bush, I think you get this in the US as well. It tastes very salty but tastes a bit like Rosemary as well. It grows prolifically in desert areas and especially near salt lakes of which Australia has quite a few.

What has become a high priced commodity in recent times is lamb that has been fed on Salt Bush. Pre-seasoned lamb.

https://www.saltbushlamb.com.au/