An Inspiring Kitchen Story - and a new recipe

There's a treat for you this month - a special recipe created by the delightful food blogger Tania Cusack, of My Kitchen Stories. Tania is a former chef who now develops recipes and, after we met one day at Salt Meats Cheese, she went off to her kitchen to devise a new use for one of our smoked salts.

Smoked flavours and seafood are a classic combination (think cold or hot-smoked salmon, smoked mussels, trout, you name it). Tania has added this smokey flavour to crispy salt & pepper prawns, without the hassle of setting up a smoker.

Smoked Salt & Pepper Prawns

Click the image for the recipe at The Salt Box

Check out Tania's post which includes some background as well as her full recipe, which is printable. She regularly posts the most delicious-looking recipes, worth checking out.

Which smoked salt to use?

Tania chose the fruity Yakima Applewood Smoked Salt for her recipe, but you could also try the finer crystals of Salish Alderwood Smoked Salt or our newest smoked salt, Durango Hickory Smoked Salt.

Have fun making this recipe - or experiment with your own! We'd love to hear about it. Tell us about your results via our Product Reviews online or comment below.

Uncle Joe is Wild for Porcini Salt

For those of you that have been to Salt Meats Cheese in Alexandria (Sydney), or visited them at one of the Sydney food markets they attend, you may have been lucky enough to taste Uncle Joe's marinated olives or pizza. I always look for him when he is in store to see and taste what he is making.

I noticed Uncle Joe always uses our Wild Porcini salt when he makes his pizza, so I wanted to ask him more about his favourite uses...

Kosher Salt – What is it and why do chefs use it?

We have all heard of salt being called "kosher," but what exactly does that mean—kosher salt? Typically, the confusion derives from the meanings of the term.

People often say "kosher salt" when they mean either kosher certified salt, or kosher-style flake salt. Below is an explanation of the difference and how to discern which kind of kosher salt you need.

How to Conduct a Salt Tasting

Anyone who thinks that salt just tastes "salty" will be in for a surprise as there are so many subtle variations between natural salts from different locations and climates.

Add flavoured salts to the mix, and things get even more interesting...

The best approach is to do a side-by-side comparison.

Salt and your Senses

Pink ones, blue ones, white ones, black ones…

Big crystals, little crystals...

...and varieties from Japan, Bolivia, Australia, Iceland, USA, France, Spain...and more. 

So, how do you select the right salt for you and your gastronomic creations?

The Flower of Salt - Fleur de Sel

I find the rich history of elegant Fleur de Sel fascinating and wonder what it must have been like to have been salt farmer centuries ago.

Know Your Salt - Part 2

In the last post we talked about finishing salts including sea salts. They are really fun to explore and taste the differences between each salt and the impact on your food. 

This time we are going to explore flake salts, flavoured sea salts, shio salt and rock salts.  All these can enhance your dishes with the finest flavours, colours and textures.