Two Salts

As a parting gift, the guests at the tastings that we will be cooking for over the next two weeks will receive two finishing salts, chocolate and vanilla.  We thought that these would give our diners something fun to remember us by.  We wanted to give them a gift that would make them think a little bit about food and still be easy to play with.  We've refined the chocolate salt since it was first shown here. It's even more chocolate-y than it was in the beginning, softly drenched in bittersweet Scharffen Berger and Callebaut chocolates.  As for the vanilla, what can we say, the longer it sits, the better it gets.  Vanilla salt is a great way to use up old vanilla beans and add a touch of vanilla to savory dishes without overwhelming the other flavors.  In the pantry, though not seen here, are a variety of other spiced salts from cardamom to szechuan peppercorn to toasted cumin seed.  Any highly aromatic dried spice will easily share it's flavors with your favorite salt  The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.