John Myers
Ingredients for 1 servings:
- 1 handful of red basil, the leaves of which
- 50 g salt, sea salt, coarse
- 1 handful of flowers, dried mallow flowers
Instructions
Working time approx. 10 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 40 minutes
purple basil salt – really an amazing color
I used the “Dark Opal” basil variety, but other red basil varieties would certainly work. For the mallow flowers, I used Mauritanian mallow (Malva sylvestris mauritiana) for their color. Grind the picked leaves with the coarse salt and the deseeded mallow flowers in a mortar or blender (only use it briefly so the mixture doesn’t get warm) until you have a rather coarse mixture similar to moist, purple sand. Depending on the desired color intensity, you can add a little more salt—but the color will become a bit paler after drying and fine grinding. Spread the moist mixture on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and let it dry at about 35°C (definitely no more than 40°C). It took me about 30 minutes—but this depends greatly on the water content of the basil and how thickly you spread the mixture on the baking sheet. If the air is quite warm and dry, you can also air-dry the mixture – but this will probably take a few days. Now grind the whole thing again in a mortar or blender and bottle it. During this grinding step, you also have another chance to add a little salt if you find the color too intense. This wonderful purple salt is a real eye-catcher on buttered, quark, or cream cheese bread, on a breakfast egg, on a tomato and cucumber plate, or wherever you like and the basil note suits it. This eye-catcher also makes a great small gift or souvenir. I personally think the color becomes even more beautiful/intense with the mallow blossoms – but you can certainly leave them out. In terms of flavor and aroma, they are rather neutral; you really only smell and taste basil.
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