Truffle and pepper berry salt.

Intensive flavour infusion is what we all long for when it comes divulging any type of delicacy, for mine especially.

The first time I infused a salt was in the Whitsundays. My head chef at a hotel had his own ‘flavoured’ salt, and he would harp on about how all fried delicacies, and many other things, over the course of many decades, carried his particular flavour, through an infusion of intensified herbs and salt.

I have made many variations since, and truffle salt is potentially the most lucrative variation I have ever had a go at.

Ingredients

500g sea salt

750g Himalayas pink table salt (regular, store bought is fine)

100g fresh truffle

25g dried, Tasmanian pepper berries

15g dried fungus

10g freshly picked thyme

Apparatus

Medium sized baking tray

Heavy based frying pan

Mixing bowl

Foil

Mortar and pestle

Large kitchen spoon

Mandolin slicer

Method

Crank your over up to 120.

Place your salt into your baking tray and mix them up. I went with a mixture of sea salt and pink table salt with this recipe, as sea salt will give it ‘wank’ factor for your next dinner party, and the pink colouration of the Himalayan variety looks pretty, although there is nothing stopping you from using any type of sodium chloride (NaCl).

Cover and seal your salt tray with foil, then place it in the oven.

Place your dried fungus and pepper berries into the mortar and pestle, and ground them up. I had to do mine in two batches. If you find yourself knocking most of the contents of you mortar onto the floor, then you should probably do as I did and pulverise the mortars contents in two batches.

Get your heavy based frying pan, and turn that up to high heat and wait until it starts to smoke a dry smoke. While that warms up, slice your truffles on the thinnest setting you can set your mandolin to. Mandolins are notorious for slicing large and small slithers and chunks from the hand of many chefs, so be careful.

Now your salt is warming, your funguses are sliced and pulverised, and your frying pan is smoking hot. Take your hot salt from the oven, but keep it hot.

Place the both funguses, the thyme and the pepper berries into your mixing bowl, and roughly mix together.

Place the mixed ingredients into your smoking hot frying pan and mix it vigorously, without spilling any on the floor or the bench if you can help it. It is vital you DO NOT burn your ingredients, and not stirring them will ensure that happens. What you are trying to do is heat, and cook, your ingredients so they release their flavours, and the closer you can take them to being burnt, they tastier the will be! This process should only take 20-30 seconds.

Once you are happy enough flavour has come to life in your frying pan, remove the foil from your salt tray and drop your frying pans contents in there. Now mix it straight away! You want your hot ingredients flavour to entwine into the salt. Heat is a catalyst for chemical reactions, and in this case, your using heat to release flavour, then trapping that flavour into your salt.

Allow to cool, uncovered, until your flavoured salt reaches room temperature, then pack away into desired packaging and you are done!

#Truffle salt goes well with nearly all protein rich foods. I have, and will be, having truffle salt with nearly everything at home for the next twelve to eighteen months.

#Pro tip- Truffles carry a super pungent smell, yet they are mildly flavoured when applied to your palate. Keep whatever you are using them on mildly flavoured to help bring out the truffle flavour in your food. Another great preparation is allowing them to infuse into the pores of eggs or rice. Store them with eggs, or rice, for a few days so your next scrambled eggs or risotto can a have wonderful, truffle aroma.