Mark Bitterman - Salt Block Cooking: 70 Recipes for Grilling, Chilling, Searing, and Serving on Himalayan Salt Blocks

SALT BLOCK COOKING

OTHER BOOKS BY MARK BITTERMAN

Salted: A Manifesto on the Worlds Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes

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Salt Block Cooking

Text and photographs copyright 2013 Mark Bitterman. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews.

Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC
an Andrews McMeel Universal company
1130 Walnut Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106

www.andrewsmcmeel.com

ISBN: 978-1-4494-3593-6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012955065

Design: Holly Ogden
Photography: Mark Bitterman
Photo Credits: Ejaz Ahmad,
Food Stylist: Adrian Hale
Prop Stylist: Pamela Fabrega

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CHAPTER 1
SERVING ON SALT BLOCKS

CHAPTER 2
CURING ON (AND BETWEEN) SALT BLOCKS

CHAPTER 3
WARMING ON SALT BLOCKS AND IN SALT BOWLS

CHAPTER 4
COOKING ON (AND UNDER) SALT BLOCKS

CHAPTER 5
CHILLING ON SALT BLOCKS

CHAPTER 6
DRINKING FROM SALT CUPS

My laptop doesnt contain enough ink to thank my dear friend Andy Schloss for his culinary prowess and writerly professionalism in crafting the recipes for this book. Profound thanks to my editor, Jean Lucas, who has shown inordinate grace and wisdom in dealing with me. Thanks also to the rest of the crew at Andrews McMeel, most especially to Holly Ogden for her beautiful book design work, and to Kirsty Melville for believing in this book and publishing it. Thanks also to my excellent agent, Lisa Ekus, for her faith and friendship.

Thank you, Adrian Hale, for your calm acumen and beautiful hands (literally and figuratively) in food styling. My gratitude to Pamela Fabregra for all the hustle and creativity: I still owe you a tank of gas. Additional styling thanks to Kierstin Buchner, Ellen Jackson, and Delores Custer for your hard work and good counsel. Thank you, Leela Cyd, for contributing your excellent graphical eye. My thanks to Mark Fitzgerald for photo-editing help. Thank you, Pete Perry, for your generosity on all fronts photographic.

Deep thanks to the indomitable Melissa Smith at The Meadow for holding down the fort during my absences while writing. I am ever grateful to Mark Chapman, Violet Tchalakov, Kristen Cooper, Kayla Carlson, Linda Le, Nicole Alden, Kimberly Ess, Jordan Frand, Jamie Swick, Nick Raz, Jamie Newman, Annette Strean-Cornelius, Arturo Martinini, and the rest of the brilliant staff at The Meadow for their passion and hard work spreading the good word of salt.

Thank you to my friends in Pakistan: Maqbool, Ejaz, Mian, Zohaib, Akhtar, and others. Thanks to Matt, Caitie, Poppy, Fiona, and Cecilia Coleman for lending me your home (and yourselves!), and also to Miriana, Matt, and Mike Clark for the stepladders and dinners along the way. Thanks to the many bighearted people who sent me pictures and ideas for cooking over the years.

Most of all, I thank my two beautiful and brilliant boys. Austin, your quick humor and wily playfulness help me to see the truth in myself; and Hugo, your high-octane curiosity and boisterous affection are my keenest reminders of the awesome vitality of the human spirit.

alt blocks are both beautiful and precious, which makes them more than just a mineral; it makes them a gema gem that captures empyrean light and binds it, transforming photons into a radiant, translucent geometry. But unlike most gems, precious and precise, salt blocks are enormous cracked slabs of ore from the heart of the earths 4-billion-year-old crust.

Serving food on a salt block is the simplest and one of the best ways to take advantage of its geological companionship. Use it as you would a platter or cutting board whenever you are dishing up foods that are servable at room temperature and would benefit from a little salt: fruits, cheeses, pts, fresh or steamed vegetables, and cured meats. A salt block imparts measured seasoning that increases in proportion to the moisture content of the food and the length of time it is on the block.

Butter will never get more than a glimmer of salt. At my house I set a stick of butter on a salt block at the breakfast table and leave it there. Keeping butter out of the fridge makes getting to it more convenient. Soft butter tastes better and is easier to use, and it looks more tantalizing. The salt prohibits bacterial growth, so the butter will stay fresh-tasting for days.

High-moisture ingredients, like watermelon, interact with the salt block more overtly, giving you a short window during which the seasoning goes from delicate to flat-out intense. What starts out as a delicately salted snack after five minutes will transform into a quick pickle within a half hour.

Beyond these recipes specifically created to serve on salt blocks, many other recipes can be adapted to serve on salt blocks to stunning effect. Put your salt block on the stovetop set to low and warm it for 15 minutes slightly. Then use the salt block as a serving platter for all your cooked meats, from burgers to pork chops. The platter adds a little last-minute seasoning and also keeps things warm! The block can be set on a tray to catch any juices released from the meats. Use the same technique for serving rice, roasted winter roots, mashed potatoes, collard greens, grilled summer squash, artichokes, or buttery slices of garlic bread.

For some foods, especially shellfish, salting before cooking will toughen them up. Cook calamari, octopus, and shrimp without salt and serve them on a warm salt block to let their juices draw up salt when they need it: right before they go in your mouth. The last courses of the meal also love a little smooch of salt from a salt block, from cheeses and fruits to cakes. Place a full bar of dark chocolate on a warm salt block, let stand for 10 minutes, and then dip pretzels, fruit, or your fingers into the lusciously melted chocolate.

You deserve pleasure and beauty as part of your routine, not just for special occasions. Serving, preparing, and storing your food on a salt block is a tasty way to bring this lovely edible gemstone into your daily life.

The only thing separating the wolfs lust for raw meat from ours is seasoning and setting. Where wolves devour their meat on the frozen tundra, straight from the ribs of their kill, we nibble ours with salt and minced onions in the guise of well-heeled businessmen dining in global capitals. Serving tartare on a chilled salt block gives us some of the Arctics cerulean vitality while salting with howling sophistication.