Gourmet salt mixes for vegetables, meat, fish and eggs

A salt mix is salt with a flavour

A gourmet salt mix pairs salt with one main flavour, such as black garlic, porcini, smoked salt or chilli. You use it where you would normally use plain salt, at the end of cooking or just before it. That puts the flavour on top of the dish, where you taste it first. Chloë and Dax blend the salt mixes in small batches in Brussels.

Which salt mix suits what you are cooking

For vegetables and mushrooms

Forest Funghi combines porcini with shallot, thyme and fleur de sel, and suits risotto, roast vegetables and homemade crackers. There is a mushroom pasta built on this mix. Black Magic Garlic Salt holds black garlic fermented for over sixty days, fleur de sel and lemon zest. Use it only at the end, not for cooking, on roast carrots, beetroot, eggs or a steak.

For meat and fish from the grill

Smokin' Salt 'n Pepper is smoked salt with coarsely cracked smoked black pepper and lemon zest. Use it as a dry brine on poultry or fish, a while before cooking. Mayan Mojo pairs cacao with cinnamon, mace and annatto, and suits grilled meat and rich sauces.

For heat and umami

Umami Tsunami has seaweed, wakame, gochugaru, sesame and wasabi, and goes on sushi, poke bowls, ramen and popcorn. Sriracha Blaze brings red jalapeño, vinegar and a little sweetness, for eggs, snacks and meat. Haba Habanero has red habanero, kaffir lime and lime zest. Cut it with plain salt for the rim of a margarita glass, or scatter it over grilled seafood.

How to use a salt mix

Start with less than you would use of plain salt, because the mix is already full of flavour and salty. Sprinkle it on at the end or just before serving so the crystals stay crunchy. For a dry brine on chicken or fish, rub the mix in and leave it for a while before it goes in the pan or on the grill. Taste before you salt sauces or sides.

The guide to seven finishing salts and how to use them writes the mixes out with examples. For more on umami, read umami is not a mystery.

What black garlic does

Black garlic is garlic that ferments for weeks. According to the product page, the garlic in Black Magic matures for over sixty days, until it turns sweet and nearly black. The raw sharpness is gone and depth is left: umami, a smoky note and a little sweetness. That is why it works as a finish, over a dish that is already done.

Where else to sprinkle a salt mix

Forget the main course for a moment: a salt mix is also good on a fried or soft-boiled egg, on avocado toast, on popcorn and roasted nuts, in mash or over a bowl of soup. Those are the small moments where a pinch makes the difference without following a recipe. For spices you want to cook with, the spice blends are a better choice, because they are not built on salt.

Storing a salt mix

Salt attracts moisture. Keep the jar closed and dry, and not above a steaming pan. A dry spoon rather than a damp finger keeps the mix loose.

A tip from Chloë and Dax

Put a jar of salt mix on the table instead of plain salt. Guests taste and decide for themselves what suits the dish.