Cocktails with Celery salt
Celery salt is table salt blended with ground celery or lovage seed. The salt is most of it; the seed does the flavoring.
How it's used
In a Bloody Mary and its relatives it goes into the drink by the pinch, adding salt and a savory celery note. It can also season the rim. The seed is potent, so a light hand goes a long way.
Substitutes for Celery salt
Homemade celery salt
Start with about two parts salt to one of ground celery seed, taste, and use it pinch for pinch.
Celery bitters and salt
In the drink, a dash of celery bitters with a pinch of salt brings the celery back. The bitters are no use on a rim.
Plain salt
Gives the salt but no celery, which matters little on a rim and a lot stirred in.
Celery seed
The pure spice, with no salt: use a much smaller pinch, plus salt.
Storage
The salt keeps indefinitely; the celery seed fades. Sealed and dry it holds its aroma a year or two. Moisture turns the whole thing into a solid cake that is perfectly good and no longer pourable.
