Oaxaca's love letter to the senses. Another exploration in our Appellation Salt series.
Mercado Salt is no mere seasoning - it is conjure, spellcraft in a jar. A salt blend, yes, but also a reliquary of earth and fire, of ancient tongues and volcanic soil. To open it is to crack a sacred door, to stand at the threshold of markets and mountains, temples and kitchens, memory and myth.
Smoked sea salt forms the bones of this blend, finely ground and mineral, touched by flame and ocean, as if it remembers both lightning and tide. Then come the chapulines (grasshoppers), crushed into powder, offering their roasted, nutty depth, an echo of Oaxacan afternoons where children chase them through milpas and elders toast them on comales. Their inclusion is not novelty, it is reverence.
Mole negro enters like a shadow - rich, dark, complex. Chocolate, charred chiles, cherished family secrets... ground, so it vanishes into the salt like a whisper. It is the soul of the blend, the dark heart beating beneath it all.
Layered through are the dried herbs: thyme and oregano, wild and resinous, still smelling of sun and stone; cumin, warm and earthy, soothing the brightness with ancient roots.
And the chiles - Puya, guajillo, pasilla - each brings a note, a voice in the chorus. Puya hums high and sharp, electric on the tongue. Guajillo sings deeper, like dried, dark fruit kissed by smoke. Pasilla is the low note, rich in the essence of raisin, drawing the heat downward into complexity rather than fire.
Then the citrus arrives. Not bright, not sharp, but aged and fragrant. Orange peel, lemon and lime zest, dried and ghostly, like sunlight caught in a molcajete. Their brightness doesn’t lift the blend so much as illuminate it from within.
And finally, cinnamon - canela - woodsy, sweet, a warm breath on a cold morning, twisting through the salt like a Saturday morning childhood memory.
The result is alchemy: a blend that doesn’t just season, but transforms. A small pinch is enough. On roasted vegetables, it speaks of market stalls and mesquite. On grilled meat, it roars. Rim a glass with it, and suddenly your cocktail has history. Sprinkle it on chocolate, and now dessert remembers its ancestors.
This is not just a salt. It's a story.
FLAVOR PROFILE: SMOKY UMAMI SPICE
INGREDIENTS: 2 oz.
Smoked sea salt, grasshopper, mole negro, puya, guajillo, pasilla, lemon, lime, orange, oregano, thyme, cumin, cinnamon.
* mole negro contains nuts (pecan, walnut)
USES:
- on all meats
- a vegetable and salad sprinkle
- chocolate and desserts
- cocktail rims
- popcorn and other snacks
- right out of the jar
