Herb salt

I'll be honest with you: I barely ever cook. I enjoy baking sweet things a lot more. Yet I ALWAYS use salt when I cook. Now I know the importance of salt, I won't stop using it either. Still I can get bored of salt. Whether it's table salt or coarse sea salt: at some point it's all just salt, so I like to add flavored salts to my food occasionally. I bought my mom a big jar of Parmesan Cheese & Basil salt a while ago. I remember we had rosemary salt at some point and salt with peppers along with some other flavored salts I can't remember. In stores I'll get stuck at the shelf with flavored salts and consider buying them all, but doesn't everyone?

There's one thing better than buying all different kinds of flavor salts in cute jars and that is making it yourself! And the one thing that can top that is making your own herb salt, putting it into cute jars and giving it away to friends, so you can show off  be nice!

Herb salt
Makes 1/2 cup - adapted from Allrecipes

1/4 cup coarse salt
handful fresh parsley (10 grams)
1/4 cup fine salt
 
1. Take a food processor (or mini chopper) and dump the parsley with the coarse salt in there. Make sure the parsley is not wet, so if you want to wash the herbs make sure to dab them dry with tissues. Pulse the food processor several times until you have a finer green salt, which looks like the end result but a tiny bit darker.
2. Add the fine salt to the food processor and pulse another time or two until it's mixed with the rest.
3. Leave to dry on a plate for an hour or so. 
4. Put it in a cute small jar and use it over salads, sandwiches, pastas, chicken and anywhere else you'd use salt.

Of course don't forget to try out all the other herbs. Rosemary and salt is a wonderful combination. Basil would be perfect as well. You can add 2-4 spoons of grated Parmesan cheese for the Parmesan Cheese & Basil salt combination. Or add a spoonful of pepper for a bit of extra spice. Really all you have to do once you have the salt is go into a grocery store and let your imagination run wild while you stare at herbs.

 
Another thing I have to add: keep the expiry date in mind. Although salt is a well-known preservative and it will keep your fresh herbs fine for quite a while, you're still working with fresh herbs. My jars of herb salt haven't lived long enough to see their expiry date, but I can confidently tell you you can keep your herb salt for several weeks. Perhaps the herb will dry out in the jar and you'll be able to keep it for a year or more.

Enjoy your new salty addition to the kitchen! In case you're intrigued by the third bowl on the picture: right next to the sea salt and the herb salt there's a delicious spice rub I will be posting soon.

Why do sweets need salt?

'Salt shouldn't be there.' Ever since the first time I started baking I've been convinced salt didn't belong in the ingredient lists of cakes, cupcakes, pies and all the other sweet things. It just sounded so wrong I would omit it altogether. But with that I've committed a crime over and over again. Surely there were times I'd reluctantly throw in the required salt and surely it's never tasted bad. But why on earth do sweets need salt?

To answer that question I searched my cookbooks and the Internet. Although I just can't find the exact how's and why, I've discovered salt enhances the texture and flavor of baked goods.

Salt is texture
Salt is essential in bread making. It controls the rising process in breads by slowing down the yeast's action. This slows down the rising process of the bread so it won't rise too much and collapse again. Instead, the bread will rise in a controlled and even way. Basically, we owe the fluffy feel of breads to salt. Also, by controlling the yeast and interacting with the flour, salt strengthens the gluten. Salt lines up gluten fibers and helps them hold more water so the dough becomes more elastic and the baked bread won't fall apart.
In sweet bakes there is a similar effect: by interacting with the flour and leavening agents, salt controls the rising process of cakes and helps creates a stronger and tighter crumb.

Salt is taste
Salt is essential in baked goods for the effect it has on flavor. Salt accentuates and enhances flavors. In sweet baked goods especially, salt provides balance. It contrasts with the sugar, giving your sweets an edge, which makes them taste so good.
Another reason to use salt in baking is it's absorbing properties. Salt absorbs water, oils and fats. Thus ridding our cakes, breads and other bakes from the oily taste and feel. This absorbent property of salt also enhances the texture of baked goods by binding the ingredients together.

Can you go wrong without salt?
Well, yes. I just explained that salt enhances both the texture and the taste of your baked good. Salt is considered essential to the recipes and chemistry of baking. Yet, still it is possible to make bread without salt altogether. My mom swears she's never used any salt in her breads and there's even a famous Tuscan saltless bread. The same goes for any other baked goods really. You might find a cake that doesn't require salt, or salted butter, and I've tried it enough times to be sure it can work. So if there is any reason you want to omit the salt, for instance for a diet, go right ahead. Just remember the taste and texture will be different from the original recipe. You will also be getting rid of the natural preservative, so your breads or cakes will go stale more quickly.

Can you go wrong with salt?
The same way salt enhances the texture and taste of your cakes it can destroy them completely. Adding too much will result inhibit the rising process and result in a very tough and dry texture. The crust of the bread of cake will harden quickly and become a very dark colour. So yes, at a certain point you can go wrong by adding salt. Just follow the recipe's instructions and you shouldn't have any problems.

Which salt to use?
There are at least as many types of salt as there are oceans. There are table salts, sea salts, salts with additives and all come in various sizes. For baking you want a finer salt. A finer salt can incorporate better into the batter, rather than stick around in big chunks. This way it can do it's chemical effect on taste and texture effectively and will also prevent any 'salty bites'. Only when using salt as a topping a coarse grain will do better. The coarser grains will give a more sophisticated and prettier feeling than a fine salt as a topping. Salt as a topping gives breads a glossy and crunchy top.

My References:
Bread by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter
Joy the Baker - What's the best salt for baking?
Culinate - Kitchen Chemistry
Piece of Cake - Why salt is important in baking
Food Reference - Functions of salt in food