In This Installment:
Kimchi Sea Salt Blend from Washington
I take sea salt for granted. I’ve come to believe that everyone uses sea salt in their cooking and on their food as liberally as I—but then again I start with 50 kg bag of the white stuff in my house and it takes me years to work through it, so maybe I’m not the usual user.
Still, I never take for granted the amount of work that goes into creating sea salt and there are lots of ways of creating sea salt. Warm, coastal places like Trapani, Sicily make shallow beds along the beach that collect sea water and then they let it evaporate in the sunshine. In England where it’s too cold for such things, folks make sea salt by boiling sea water…heck, there’s even a place in Scotland that uses wind, sun, and a network of blackthorn branches to help evaporate the water and leave the salt behind. So believe me when I tell you there’s lots of ways of collecting sea salt and each method has its own merits. For the folks living on San Juan Island in rural, northwest Washington, they actually make the salt on the farm.
During the warm weather months of spring and summer (so probably about now) the folks at San Juan Sea Salt pump sea water into an old Ford Tanker from a private beach and drive the sea water up to their farm. That’s where they’ve created a serious of hoop houses that harness sunshine to heat up the sea water while protecting it from any outside elements like rain. On a hot summer day, temperatures can rise to over 130° in the hoop house which is great for evaporating sea salt but not so great to work in.
It takes about a month to evaporate roughly 1500 gallons of sea water into 350 pounds of white sea salt. The large, geometric crystals are gathered, sorted, graded, and packaged, ready for folks like you and me to use in our kitchens and on our cuisine. By evaporating the water slowly and not heating or boiling it, they’re able to retain more of the minerals present in the sea water so the finished salt has a briny flavor that reminds you of the sea. At least it reminds me a little of the sea, but maybe that’s because I just returned from spring break.
This blend is accented by the addition of seasonsings you’d usually find in kimchi: garlic, ginger, and gochugara peppers among others. The extra ingredients give the salt an umami, slightly spicy kick and gives the blend a wonderful ruby type of color. I’ve been using it on my morning meals (eggs, toast, that sort of thing) and adding it to olive oil and vinegar to make simple vinaigrettes sing with a little zip. Use it wherever you might normally sprinkle salt and see what you come up with.
“The Best Licorice Ever – Sweet” from Holland
Every few years I’m brave enough to include licorice into a club installment. It takes chutzpah to send licorice—it could be the most devisive sweet in the world. Much of the world (I’m talking billions of people) adore licorice in all its forms, but in places like Holland and Scandanavian countries, they especially like it salty which is a whole other experience.
And since we are finders of flavors both traditional and novel, I’m always on the hunt for a good licorice to offer to our many customers. I know most of them won’t appreciate the choice, but those that do will be greatly rewarded by the flavors and experience we locate. It’s taken many years of searching since we lost our last traditional licorice producer and I’m pleased to announce that the search is over (at least for the time being). We’ve found the sweet licorice we want to offer and licorice lovers shall rejoice.
For the rest of the world, I beg for open minds. Licorice is a complex, multi-faceted confection that should be enjoyed and savored as such. This is not an “absent minded sweet treat” that you mindlessly devour and forget about two seconds after it’s chewed—no.
This is a treat you nibble. A licorice that lasts. Flavors that flourish for minutes after you’ve had your last bite. That’s when you’ll start to think about having another bite and it repeats all over again.
It’s gluten-free, it’s vegan, and it has a growing list of admirers. The first Klepper opened his candy shop in the 90s and now his son (the other Klepper) is on board, taking their famous flavors to folks like us in the States and anywhere else licorice is loved. Though I admit it’s loved in other places more than America, it’s possible we’re about to change all that with one delicious piece of licorice. And if you still can’t find yourself falling for what half the world thinks is delicious, chances are you can find someone in your circle that does. Share it with them.