Aussie Olive Salt
If you read my post “Indulging the Senses in Hobart” you might remember the wonderful dining experience we enjoyed at “Ethos. ” After enjoying a 64C egg served with sourdough, whipped cultured butter and olive salt I vowed to come home and master making the delicious salt.
It was a comfort thing, albeit taken to a new level. If you’ve ever enjoyed vegemite, marmite or promite smeared soldiers dipped into a soft boiled egg then you’ll know what I’m talking about. To the uninitiated, I’ll try and explain.
No one can deny that a few flakes of sea salt crumbled onto an egg enhances the flavour. The “mites” deliver that saltiness with a spade load of umami, but also with a yeasty beefiness that is very dominant. It’s not a flavour that is subtle or lends itself to marrying with anything other than plain flavours.
I began thinking about all the delicious foods which olives complement, foods that need the subtle use of salt to make them sing, potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, fish, cucumbers, eggs, onions.
An internet search delivered zero results for olive salt, so I winged it.
I learned a thing or two in the first attempt which didn’t get past drying the olives. I made a paste in the processor which made the oil run so the olives didn’t dehydrate. Take two was much, much better. I nailed it!
Fresh sweet juicy tomato drizzled with olive oil and a few grains of olive salt is sublime!
I used Mount Zero kalamata olives, Western Australian coarse lake salt and pink Murray River salt flakes.
50g pitted kalamata olives
50g coarse salt suitable for a grinder
25g salt flakes
Preheat the oven to 120C. Line a tray with baking paper.
Using a chefs knife finely mince the olives.
Spread the olives thinly on the baking paper, then put into the oven for 1 hour or until the olives are dry and crumbly.
Process the olives finely in a processor fitted with a metal blade.
Tip the loose ground dried olives into a bowl.
Scrape down any paste from the sides of the processor jug then add the coarse salt and process until it is fine. The salt will absorb any oil from the olive debris.
Tip the salt into the bowl with the processed olives then add the salt flakes.
Mix thoroughly to combine.
Store sealed in a screw top jar.
About ladyredspecs
23 comments on “Aussie Olive Salt”
Leave a comment
Creative Commons Copyright Licence
Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Please Pass the Recipe 
Pingback: Zucchini Butter | Please Pass the Recipe
Pingback: Much Ado About Mollica | My Kitchen Witch
Pingback: In My Kitchen – April 2015 | spades, spatulas & spoons
This is definitely on my list to make. I recently also heard about vanilla salt, which sounded interesting…that sweet salty combination. Thank you for working out the details.
LikeLike
Vanilla salt sounds interesting….
LikeLike
Sounds like magic Sandra! How lovely to have a jar of this on hand for all the uses you’ve mentioned above.
LikeLike
How interesting!
LikeLike
Wow, this is the type of thing I see at high scale restaurants and think what a decadent touch.
LikeLike
It’s a humble touch Fae, using two age old foods together as seasoning.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have to try this one, I bet it does add an amazing flavor and the umami factor. Thank you for working out the details and sharing it with us.
LikeLike
The pleasure was all mine!!
LikeLike
Almost the only salt I seem to eat these days belongs to the various Asian cooking sauces so much part of my life. But this is really interesting and will be faithfully attempted . . . love Kalamata olives and have been meaning to buy the Murray River pink salt for ages to try . . .
LikeLike
Salt has the ability to enhance natural flavour and should not be ignored. Recent health advice has upped the recommended salt consumption, in moderation it seems salt is OK. Olive salt delivers a delicious umami quality
LikeLike
What a great idea Sandra.
LikeLike
Tried it on fresh beans last night, it added a tasty twist
LikeLike
How intriguing – I’ll bookmark this and come back to it I’m sure.
LikeLike
It’s an amazing flavour enhancer…..
LikeLike
Love Vegemite toast and am soooo going to make this Mrs R! I am the only olive eater in this household but all the more for me! (I am however going to sprinkle it on the Yaks beloved boiled eggs and see what happens….shhhh….)
LikeLike
Mmm, it will be interesting to see how he reacts. The olive was far more pleasing than on poached eggs than truffle salt
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yes! My personal heaven.
LikeLike
You too? Fresh tomatoes never tasted so good, olive salt is magic
LikeLike
Oh, wow! I’ve got to make this! But, I don’t believe that it can taste like Marmite. We are a house divided over that brown gooey abomination. I bet you can tell which side I am on. But, Kalamatas, that’s a different story. They are universally liked.
LikeLike
Well no the taste is different but the salty umami efffect works in a similar way
LikeLiked by 1 person