A recent addition to our, admittedly already fairly well lavender-stocked, the pantry has been Lavender Salt. This can come in two varieties, fine or coarse, and has quite honestly revolutionised our cooking lives! Lavender Salt is beyond easy to make and not only will add an amazing flavour to so many of your dishes (have a look at some of our suggestions below) but also makes a really lovely homemade gift. So if you’ve run out of ideas for, or time to find, the perfect gift than a jar of Lavender Salt tied with ribbon that’s hung with recipe suggestions could be just the thing that you need.
So to make your own Lavender Salt you require only 2 things – lavender and salt. Some recipes suggest that you can use lavender straight from your garden, however, we recommend only ever using our specially selected dried culinary lavender. Not only can you guarantee that this is dried, sieved and ready for use, you can also rest assured that it has been harvested at the peak of its fragrance from our very own lavender Angustifolia variety, which imparts a softer and more rounded flavour than many other varieties or non-culinary blends. Simply mix one part dried culinary lavender to 10 parts coarse sea salt. You then have three choices:
— Simply stir until the dried lavender buds are distributed evenly throughout the salt, then pop in a well-sealed jar, and you’re ready to go. This will give you a coarse product.
— Take a little of the salt and grind it with the lavender in a pestle and mortar until the buds start to break down and release their essential oils. You can then mix this into the rest of the salt to give you a fairly coarse result with a more pronounced aroma.
— Grind your entire mixture in a pestle and mortar or clean coffee grinder until you have a fine salt. This may cake a little as the essential oils from the lavender will be absorbed by and bind the salt, however a quick bash just before you use it will return it to powder form easily.
Now you have your lovely little jar of Lavender Salt what should you do with it? It is surprisingly versatile and will enhance the flavour of many foods along with imparting a subtly floral lavender flavour. Some of our favourite uses are:
— Rub onto chicken, lamb or white fish before or after cooking. We’re going to use it to rub into the skin of our Easter leg of lamb before roasting, and it’s lovely when used to season cod fillets cooked in olive oil and garlic – yum!
— It is an amazing flavour enhancer for freshly cooked vegetables, especially when they are served warm rather than hot. Sprinkle onto green or white asparagus and onto lovely buttery Jersey Royal Potatoes.
— Toast thin slices of baguette, smear with soft goat’s cheese and top with a drizzle of honey and sprinkling of Lavender Salt.
— Combine with dark and white chocolate – either melt a bar, stir in a little Lavender Salt and reset, or add to chocolate mousse, pannacotta or any of your other favourite chocolate desserts.
— Caramel – add a little Lavender Salt when making a caramel sauce, it’ll be delicious!
— For a new twist on a classic drink, dip the rim of your Margarita glass into Lavender Salt rather than plain salt.
Lavender Salt – give it a try today!
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