March 15, 2011

BBF Finds: Salted Herbs

Look what I found!! Spotted in the refrigerator section of pickles and bacon in the Portland Hannaford. It's Mailhot's Salted Herbs. Now, you know I heart their sausage, so I was excited to see a new-to-me French Canadian product. The ingredients are simple: salt, parsley, leeks, and scallions.

Now what to do with it...


Google taught me that herbs were preserved in salt before refrigeration was widespread. My co-worker with French Canadian relatives tells me it's used in pork pie. And of course, I infer that you can put it on anything relevant- meats, eggs, in soups, stews, etc.

But does anyone know of any other traditional uses? Educate me!

Update: After polling all the French Mainers I know, I believe there is no one specific use for herbes salle. Rather, it's just used in French-Canadian cooking, from omelettes, to soups and stews. Basically, if you'd add herbs or salt to it, you can use salted herbs.

This jar does need to be refrigerated and probably can last as long as it'd take you to use it. I'd keep it 6 to 8 months to be safe and of course, discard it if you notice any mold. It can easily be made- see this Food in Jars post for tips on making flavored salts or sugars.