Condiment/Spread

Herb Salts: An Adventure in Cooking from Fäviken

by:
February  5, 2013
3.7
3 Ratings
Herb Salts: An Adventure in Cooking from Fäviken
  • Makes enough for winter
Author Notes

As an alternative to drying, chef and author Magnus Nilsson of rural Sweden’s acclaimed restaurant, Fävaken Magasinet, makes herb salts to get him through the winter, when he has no fresh herbs or produce. He keeps some of his herb salts in the freezer but allows others to age, fading to almost brown by springtime. I made my herb salts too late even in my California season to try most of his favorites. I just took a look at what I still had in my garden and ended up with a lemon verbena-mint-thyme mix, which is great on chicken and fish, and chive, which is great on everything. Lovage and lemon balm are on my calendar for next year.

(This recipe was adapted from Fävaken by Magnus Nilsson, Phaidon, October 2012)
—Greenstuff

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup fresh herbs
  • 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
Directions
  1. Make sure the herbs are dry—Chef Nilsson says to pick them on a sunny day.
  2. Pulse the herbs in a food processor, until they are finely chopped, taking care not to let them heat up. Add the salt, and pulse a few more times.
  3. Pass the mixture through a coarse sieve to remove any woody stems, or do what I’ve done with the lemon verbena mix, and store it in a spice mill so you can grind as needed. Even picking on a sunny day, my chive salt was pretty wet and didn’t have any woody stems, so I didn’t sieve and just put it in the freezer.
  4. Store in the freezer or at room temperature, depending on whether you want fresh, newly picked flavors or slowly changing tastes through the winter.
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4 Reviews

Jennifer M.
Jennifer M. July 13, 2014
What a great idea...I have left over fresh oregano that I dont know what to do with at the moment. Doing this today! After World Cup of course.
 
Greenstuff
Greenstuff July 13, 2014
A German just won today's stage of the Tour de France. We'll see if it's a German sweep for the day. And have fun with the herb salt!
 
Evie
Evie September 1, 2013
I'll certainly try this. I was in Stockholm recently but sadly didn't have enough time to travel to Faviken. Love what they're doing.
 
Greenstuff
Greenstuff September 1, 2013
I'm recently back from Scandinavia myself, but no trip to Faviken. The best food we had was all the seafood we cooked ourselves and all the berries we picked and ate on the spot. I was just been reminding myself to make some of these herb salts before the end of summer myself, so thanks for the additional nudge.