from the forthcoming

Dragon Salt

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

        A homemade seasoning with serious kick.

        Some years ago at the inn we used a hot but  nicely herbal seasoning salt from New Orleans. The packaging --- a round yellow tube with bright drawings of fish --- made it resemble a canister of fish food, but we  loved it anyway, though not being wild about the granulated garlic it included (drying and granulating it, I think, loses the best of garlic's soul and leaves only the worst of its flesh). I used the stuff for awhile on almost anything --- pasta, vegetables, egg dishes of all kinds. When it quit being available, I began making our own, which I love even more --- because it doesn't have granulated garlic or garlic salt. When using it, I often combine it with a little commercially made roasted garlic oil, or just some fresh-pressed garlic and olive oil.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup salt, preferably sea salt

1/3 cup medium-coarsely ground black pepper

1/4 cup ground cayenne pepper

1/4 cup dried dill

2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika

1 tablespoon dried sweet basil leaves

1 tablespoon celery seed

 1.      Combine all the ingredients, tossing gently. Stand back as you toss; due to the cayenne, tossing can be a bit cough-producing.

 2.      Transfer to a jar with a tightly fitting lid. This keeps well indefinitely, though it begins to lose potency after a year or  so.