The Hirshon Herbed Salt – Salamoia Bolognese

Salamoia Bolognese Used Under Creative Commons License From lamoraromagnola.it

Citizens, we are heading into the height of Summer (excluding Southern Hemisphere Citizens, of course!), which means the herb garden is overflowing with bounty. Rumored to have been created by a butcher from Bologna, “Salamoia Bolognese” is a traditional, aromatic all-purpose herbed salt native to the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.

It is simply outstanding on any type of grilled meat (and frankly, pretty much anything) and I have added a few spices and additional herbs traditionally used to flavor porcetta (grilled baby pig). I have found my additions really add to the overall flavor dimensions of this wonderful condiment.

I also strongly recommend using the best sea salt I’ve ever found – grey sea salt from Brittany (Sel de Guerande) which has the faintest aroma and flavor of violets as well as a perfect balance of saline and minerality.

The technique of preserving herbs in salt goes back to the most ancient times and this will enable you to enjoy the flavor of fresh herbs well into the Winter. Connect back to our ancient ancestors in the most visceral culinary fashion, Citizens!

Battle on – The Generalissimo

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½ cup Guerande grey sea salt – buy it from Amazon here
1 large clove garlic
1 tbsp. fresh sage leaves
2 tbsp. fresh rosemary leaves
3 ½ tbsp. coarsely cracked black peppercorns
2 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 tsp. thyme flowers (preferred) or fresh thyme leaves
1 ½ tsp. fennel pollen (preferred) or 2 leaves of fresh basil
1 clove, ground to powder in a spice grinder

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Use the food processor to pulse the garlic to a fine chop, then add all other ingredients except salt and pulse again.

Pulse the salt in to mix the ingredients thoroughly (but don’t powder the salt – you want large crystals to remain!), then spread the mix on a baking sheet for a day or so to let the herbs in the mix dry a bit before packing into clean jars.