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Quick Take:
Dennis Hvass crafts premium smoked finishing salts under the brand name Abraham's at his Springfield "Smoke Shack." His flagship Smoked Rosemary Salt along with three other flavors can be found at several Eugene-Springfield area markets.
Salt is a key ingredient in cooking. It’s easy to tell when it’s not there, because the food tastes bland. But when salt is added in a balanced way, it makes the flavors pop and you don’t really notice it. A finishing salt is a different story.
Sprinkle on a finishing salt right before serving a dish, and it delivers a textural crunch and the punchy flavor of the salt itself. A good finishing salt is magic.
Dennis Hvass is a local maker of smoked finishing salt. He uses American-sourced, medium-flaked kosher salt and smokes it over a proprietary wood blend (sustainably sourced from the Northwest and harvested by hand) and infuses it with smoked seasonings.
Hvass started making Smoked Rosemary Salt, his first and flagship product, in 2018.
“I’ve come up with 1,000 crazy ideas but this one actually took off,” he said.
Hvass said the rosemary blend was a “happy accident” that came about during experimentation with his smoker. It turned out so well that he and his family, which includes wife Alexandra and sons Abraham, Moses, and Solomon, started using it themselves and giving it as gifts. After many positive comments, Hvass built a small smoking facility, which he calls the Smoke Shack, on his Springfield property.
The Smoke Shack required approval from the Food and Drug Administration and Oregon Department of Agriculture because both organizations regulate the production and use of spices and seasonings.
“We love cooking,” Hvass said about his family. “We love unique flavors, so the salt just makes sense.”
When Hvass began making the salt, the company’s namesake, Abraham, was 5 years old. He helped his father start the fires then, and still does.
“It was a bonding thing,” said Hvass. “And Abraham is a cooler name than Dennis. I jokingly have him as the CEO and trained him on my business plan.”
For now, Hvass makes his salt blends in batches of less than 20 pounds at a time. Other flavors include Smoked BBQ Spice, Smoked Steak Seasoning, and Smoked SPG (salt, pepper, garlic).
Hvass recently left his career as a nurse to focus on growing Abraham’s product line and retail locations. Abraham’s is sold in Eugene at Capella Market, Provisions, and Long’s Meat Market, and in Springfield at Main Street Market. Find it in Cottage Grove at Coast Fork Farm Stand. Four ounces of the Smoked Rosemary Salt costs $8.59 at Capella Market in Eugene.
What does Hvass put his smoked salt on?
“Everything,” he said. “I really feel like it complements everything and every kind of cuisine. It goes on every type of protein, from beef to chicken to pork to lamb, seafood and fish and vegetables.”
Hvass said he will often sear a piece of meat seasoned with his smoked salt in a cast iron pan, then add cream or butter to the drippings to create a gravy. But it is best, he said, to sprinkle the salt at the end as opposed to starting with it.
“You get more of a punchy flavor that really pops,” he said. “I have several friends who say their kids just won’t eat eggs without the rosemary salt anymore, because it’s changed the game for them and it’s helped them to appreciate breakfast.”
Find some and try some
Abraham’s Smoked Salt
541-729-5688
https://www.abrahamspices.com
Sample Abraham’s at Provisions Market Hall tasting event
May 10
296 E. Fifth Ave., Eugene
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
https://provisionsmarkethall.com
