Salt of the Earth: How To Make Seasonal Floral and Herb Seasoning

Allotment expert and gourmet chef Lesley Tumulty shares her evocative autumnal take on floral and herb salt. Take a walk through your autumn garden and follow her top picks for this sensational seasoning. It tastes delicious and – more importantly – it’s SO pretty!

Simply scatter this over salads for a wonderful salty garnish, or drop it into soups? I also add it to softened butter for the teatime table, as well as having a jar on the table for ‘direct? salting of meals! The salt preserves the colour, fragrance and colours of the flowers and herbs, and I decant mine into an old Kilner jar for maximum gift-giving and ‘decorative storage shelf? impact.
Makes 1’medium-size jar.

Culinary autumnal flower and herb salt

YOU WILL NEED
* assorted edible flowers (still flowering are lavender, roses, nasturtiums, sunflowers and Salvia?’Huntsman Red’ and assorted herbs (i.e. lemon verbena,’mint, rosemary, sage, thyme and oregano)
* 200g sea salt
* glass jars with lids

METHOD
1 Collect your flowers and herbs, making sure they are dry and free from pesticides and traffic pollution.
2 Cut any large blooms such as lavender?into smaller pieces, but leave petals whole.
3 Mix all the flowers and herbs together, and then layer them between the sea salt in a glass jar.
4 Place a lid on top and leave in a cool and dark place for 2-4 weeks before using.
5 Once opened, mix the flowers and herbs through the salt so that everything is evenly distributed.

And that’s it! Sprinkle lovingly to warm up your winter or give it as a gift to show your thoughtful (and oh-so-creative) side…

Photography: Nathalie Marquez Courtney

@LesleyTumulty /?@Image_Interiors