Quaternary salt (there are also the names “quaternary” and “black”) - salt, “prepared” on Holy Week on Wednesday night on Clean Thursday, endowed with special magical power. The ancient Slavs used salt in various ceremonies. Then it was believed that salt repels harmful forces and protects people. Black salt is tasty and healthy. Dishes seasoned with it are more fragrant.
Pick your recipe
You will need
-
- Cast iron skillet
- Ground leaven (or rye flour)
- Coarse salt
- Wooden spoon
- Cloth bag or glass jar for storing finished salt
Instruction manual
1
In order for the Thursday salt to turn out tasty and not burned during cooking, you need to use a cast-iron skillet. In the absence of such dishes, salt can be calcined in any other thick-walled dishes, but if possible do not use aluminum. So that the salt during long cooking at high temperature does not absorb harmful heavy metals.
2
Pour salt and rye flour into a preheated pan. While gradually increasing the temperature, mix the salt with flour clockwise throughout the entire cooking time. It is better to use a wooden spoon or spatula for mixing. Calcination lasts quite a long time until the salt and flour darken.
3
As soon as the salt changes color, turn off the stove, and leave the finished salt on the stove until midnight. After midnight, salt should be poured into a dense canvas bag or in a glass jar, which will also need to be tightly corked. The tetrahydrate salt is ready, and it can be used for food.
4
If you don’t have kvass, then you can use soaked rye or Borodino bread in proportion to 1 kg of coarse salt - 5 kg of bread. These ingredients are mixed, then the prepared mixture is placed in a preheated oven to 250 degrees and baked until the bread turns black. After this, the mixture must be crushed and sieved through a sieve.
5
Each village had its own recipe for such black salt. For example, in Kostroma, in the process of cooking, common herbs were added to the common salt: organic marjoram and mint. Hence the name of this salt is Kostroma black salt.
note
For the preparation of Thursday salt, you can not use small iodized salt.
Related article
What is quaternary salt