Spice Salt (1885)

Dear Friends, I’m keeping it short again tonight, because I have a sick little one who needs her mom close. 

Making up this spice salt while she napped today was such a pleasant little project, because the scents of all the spices mingling together are just so warming, body and soul. Plus, there’s really something a bit meditative about measuring out spices, and grinding them up by hand. 

This is a much warmer, more exotic-feeling spice blend than what we tend to think of as “seasoned salt” today, and I’m thinking it’s likely to become one of my most reached-for spice blends.

Here’s a photo of the recipe as it appears in the cookbook:

No cooking notes today… 

It doesn’t get much more straightforward than measuring and combining spices, so I don’t think I have anything to offer in the way of clarification. 

However, I did notice that the spices listed in the recipe add up to exactly 2 ounces. So when she says to use one ounce of salt for every 4 ounces of spice mix, that would be ½ ounce of salt to go with the quantity of spices listed. 

By the way, you can print those spice labels, if you like.

I couldn’t help but make up some little spice labels when I was photographing the spice salt. So I thought I’d share those with you in case you’d like some for yourself. 

You can download them here, and if you have any trouble, just shoot me a reply to this email and I’ll send them to you. 

There’s a label for each spice included in the blend, as well as for the Spice Salt itself. 

The font was created by a brilliant typeface artist right here in Maine, and is based on the handwriting of Abigail Adams–specifically her letters from the 1780’s and ’90s.

📖 Recipe

Spice Salt

Twenty-Five Cent Dinners for Families of Six, 1885

This warming spice blend is one you'll want on hand for savory dishes of all kinds.

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Calories: 9kcal

Ingredients

• ¼ ounce thyme
• ¼ ounce bay leaf
• ¼ ounce pepper
• ⅛ ounce marjoram
• ⅛ ounce cayenne
• ½ ounce ground cloves
• ½ ounce nutmeg
• ½ ounce salt

Instructions

"You can make this very nicely by drying, powdering and mixing by repeated siftings the following ingredients:

• one quarter of an ounce each of powdered thyme,
• bay-leaf, and
• pepper;
• one eighth of an ounce each of marjoram and
• cayenne pepper,
• one half of an ounce each of powdered clove and
• nutmeg;
• to every four ounces of this powder add one ounce of salt, and keep the mixture in an air-tight vessel. One ounce of it added to three pounds of stuffing, or forcemeat of any kind, makes a delicious seasoning.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 9kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Sodium: 277mg | Fiber: 1g

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