Fork in the Road

  • Logout
  • Member Center

A Fork on the Road

Couple imports seasoned sea salt from Wales

 

F.Y.I.

What: Halen Mon salts

Where: Available at The Golden Hog, 91 Harbor Dr., Key Biscayne, or www.thespicelab.com

Cost: 3.5-ounce boxes $6.99-$9.99. Limited-edition jars of royal wedding salt with certificate of authenticity $119 for the first 15 orders (regular price $130).

Contact: 786-457-9353; www.ready4.com


Snack

Candied Pecans with Vanilla Salt

If you don’t have vanilla salt, add a few drops of vanilla extract to the sugar syrup.

1 cup pecans

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla salt or salt to taste

Dry-toast the nuts in a skillet. Place the sugar in a heavy saucepan and melt over medium heat. Once the liquid is thick, add the nuts and stir to coat well. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Tip the nut mixture out onto the sheet and, working quickly, spread the nuts using two forks. While the sugar syrup is still sticky, sprinkle with vanilla salt. Cool and break into bite-size clusters. Store in an airtight container. Makes about a dozen pieces.

Source: Adapted from aforkfulofspaghetti.com

Per piece: 95 calories (59 percent from fat), 7 g fat (1 g saturated fat, 4 g monounsaturated), 0 cholesterol, 1 g protein, 10 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 0 sodium.


lbb75@bellsouth.net

Welshman Justin Jones has brought a taste of home to South Florida: handcrafted Halen Mon salt flakes from the Isle of Anglesey, which juts into the Irish Sea off the northwest coast of Wales.

Jones and his wife, Taima Hervas, met salt makers David and Alison Lea-Wilson at a food show last year and learned their story: About a dozen years ago, Alison boiled a pan of seawater, and was delighted by the resulting salt with its delicate, crunchy flakes and rounded, saline flavor.

Today, Halen Mon salt is made with seawater piped from the Menai Strait, which separates the Isle of Anglesey (“Mon” in the original Welsh) from the mainland. Some are seasoned, and the Lea-Wilsons boast that their celery seed salt was served as a dip for quail eggs at Britain’s royal wedding festivities last April.

Jones and Hervas, who live in Key Biscayne, added Halen Mon to the line of gourmet goods they import through their business Ready4 Best of Britain. The salts are sold at The Golden Hog gourmet market on Key Biscayne and can be ordered online.

Jones, who grew up in the city of Chester on the English-Welsh border, taught clay target shooting and designed shooting schools for resorts around the world before landing in South Florida as executive director of the Miami British American Business Council. Hervas is a documentary film producer of German and Spanish descent.

Their new product is best used as a finishing salt sprinkled over sweet or savory dishes. The amber, oak-smoked salt is good on scrambled eggs, grilled meats and milk chocolate or caramel with vanilla ice cream. Spiced salt is great on popcorn, curries, rice and roasted potatoes. Dust the dark Tahitian vanilla bean salt on salads, scallops, fruit slices and chocolate desserts.

Linda Bladholm is a Miami food writer and personal chef who blogs at FoodIndiaCook.com.

dealsaver
The Miami Herald: Subscribe now!

More from
A Fork On the Road

Join the
Discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

We have introduced a new commenting system called Disqus for our articles. This allows readers the option of signing in using their Facebook, Twitter, Disqus or existing MiamiHerald.com username and password.

Having problems? Read more about the commenting system on MiamiHerald.com.

Hide Comments

This affects comments on all stories.

Cancel OK
0 comments

  • Videos

  • Quick Job Search

Enter Keyword(s) Enter City Select a State Select a Category