There’s a small trick to make literally everything you eat and drink taste incredible and you definitely already have it in your kitchen. Welcome to The Church of Salt, of which I am a devout follower. Let me show you around and help you maximize the usefulness of this common ingredient to its fullest potential and treat your precious tastebuds right!
Salt enhances all kinds of flavors in baking, cooking, candy-making and cocktail-making. Salt can create an experience or simply heighten one. It can balance flavors, tempering both sweetness and bitterness. Salt can take something from bland to bonkers-good. It really is just that simple.
I know you are thinking you already salt your home cooking properly (it could probably use a little more salt, tbh) but I’d love to share my top five salting habits with you that I, a salt super-enthusiast, have tried and tweaked hundreds of times.
- Coffee. Yes, coffee. Don’t @ me. My favorite at-home coffee drink is one short espresso shot, one long espresso shot and a little hot oat or goat milk. Yes, that is a wildly specific style but you can do this with any coffee drink. Full disclosure: I have never done this with black. I may or may not add just a few drops of honey but I always add just a very tiny dash of salt. I use Maldon Sea Salt Flakes and crush the pieces between my fingers. The salt will enhance the flavor of both the hot milk and the coffee and also reduce any bitterness. If you ever come to my place, I'm making you this! First pro tip: make sure the milk you add is hot. Warmed milk carmelizes slightly giving it a sweeter taste (sweet & salty!). Last pro-tip: use a very, very small amount here (just a pinch between your fingers) and add to taste. Too much and this will not be the morning pick-me-up you were expecting.
- Ice cream/Yogurt. I don’t care what kind of ice cream or yogurt you eat, top it with Maldon Sea Salt. If you add fruit, nuts or Mike’s Hot Honey or a drizzle of olive oil (you need to try this too!), even better. Any version of either of these will be brought to life with olive oil and a little saltiness.
- Fruit. I actually think I developed my enthusiasm for salt-on-everything in Colombia where they serve mango with salt and lime as a snack in some of the warmer regions. It’s mind-blowing on slices of apples, mangoes, pears and watermelon. And as a bonus, salt keeps apples from browning!
- Cocktails: So I only really make drinks with tequila and mezcal but do make quite a variety with the both. I’ll use salt on the rim, and when I forget which is most of the time, I will just add half of 1/8th of a tsp into the shaker or even after the drink is poured into the glass. Yes, I know that half of 1/8th is 1/16th but the smallest measuring spoon most people have is 1/8. The effect of salt in a cocktail is absolutely transporting. Bonus tip: beer cocktail recipes are something else I am crazy about and you can add salt to all of them. Links to recipes below.
- Chocolate. I do not ever, I repeat, ever, consume chocolate without salt. It’s really against my second religion, The Church of Sweet & Salty, of which I am also a devout follower and outspoken advocate. And as the owner of a company that makes products with chocolate and salt, I consume this combo quite a bit. No chocolate is safe from salting around me, especially drinking chocolate. Whether you are enjoying Swiss Miss cocoa mix or a single-origin organic chocolate harvested by Icelandic fairies and procured via the Neiman Marcus holiday catalog, a little salt will take the chocolate to a rich and delicious place that will make you wonder, is there anything salt can't do?
So there you have it. The answer to everything in your kitchen is salt or maybe just a bit more of it. Maldon Sea Salt Flakes are the absolute best and they even have these adorable tiny pich tins so you can carry around your own personal stash. And while Maldon may be my favorite, there are many options for you to experiment with in your own kitchen.
As I throw salt over my left shoulder to ward off the devil, I’ll leave you with recipes for adding salt to those things you probably aren’t already adding salt. Send me a message and let me know if you try something new and what your tastebuds think. I really want to know!
Xo Laura
The Case for Adding Salt to All Your Cocktails
