A Few Words about Salt, and Gilda's Salt Recipe

A few words about . . . Salt.

I think the first time and maybe last time I saw a salt lick was in a field on my grandparent’s Wisconsin dairy farm, a big block of white salt, worn down from a lot of licking (hence the name). I also recall popping salt pills in muggy Minnesota August high school football practices (I was a tight end/wide receiver), the sweat outpouring on my soaked No. 8 jersey. Salt is, after all, something like 0.4 percent of our bodies. Salt is what soldiers in the Roman Empire armies were paid for their services, why we call what we earn a salary. In Italy, you can still see signs for Sali e Tabacchi, Salt and Tobacco, from the days when salt was taxed and only found in tobacco shops! Salt is everywhere, as a root word—for salsa, for salad, for salami and sausage, for sauce. So I wanted to give you a very popular recipe in our lives—Gilda’s Salt, from The Tuscan Sun Cookbook:

Gilda keeps a jar of her seasoned salt by the stove. If she’s roasting meat, she rubs it all over with her salt and leaves it in the fridge overnight, kind of a dry brining system. I’ve used other salts, but hers is different—the fresh garlic and lemon give a punch of flavor. We give jars of this as small gifts (our friend Elizabeth does this every Christmas).

Makes about 4 Cups

1½ Cups Fresh Rosemary

1½ Cups Fresh Sage Leaves

1 Cup Garlic Cloves

½ Lemon, Seeded, Cut into 4 Pieces

1 Small Bay Leaf

3 Tablespoons Pepper

2½ Cups Fine Sea Salt

 

Put the rosemary, sage, garlic, lemon, bay leaf, and pepper in a food processor, and pulse until minced and blended. Add the salt and pulse a few more times until everything is well mixed. Store in jars.