Dario's Tuscan Sea Salt

You don’t need a fancy popcorn cooker to make great popcorn at home. Here’s how I do it in five minutes.

Serves one popcorn fanatic or two normal humans

Ingredients

White cat popcorn

Cravero Parmigiano Reggiano

Dario’s Tuscan Sea Salt

Olive oil, whatever is handy

Recipe

1. Set your favorite large saucepan on a medium low flame. Pour in a couple of glugs of olive oil — a couple tablespoons. Drop one popcorn kernel in the center and put the lid on.

2. When the kernel pops add a couple of handfuls of White Cat popcorn, about half a cup. If the popcorn completely covers the bottom of the pan it’ll probably be too much. You should see the shiny bottom of the pan in spots. 

3. Crack the lid to let out steam. It will start popping quickly. As it pops, put one hand on the lid and one on the handle and shake it back and forth. Do this every twenty seconds or so. I’m not sure if it really does anything but it’s something I do so I’ll just recommend it anyway. The popping will be slow at first then rumble to a fury.

4. Listen for the popcorn to slow its popping. When you can hear one kernel at a time pop pop …long pause…pop flip it out into a waiting bowl. Don’t wait for it to completely stop, it’ll burn.

5. Microplane a snowshower of Parmigiano Reggiano on top. Shake the bowl toward you to reveal a fresh undusted layer of popcorn at the top. Microplane some more. I do this three times. You can do it more or less, it just depends on how cheesy you want it. 

6. Take a two-finger pinch of Dario’s salt and sprinkle it on the popcorn. Take another and do the same. Stop, do not shake. 

You are done!

The counter to the side of your stove. It’s where you keep the foods you need most often. The ones you grab every day. Your kitchen’s speed dial. Your food friends list.

Here’s a written snapshot of the space next to my stove.

So many salts

I’ve probably got too many salts. They all have a reason for existing but I’ll admit it, I’ve kind of got a problem. There’s coarse salt for boiling or braising. There’s fine salt for finishing a dish, usually the one I import from Portugal. And French fleur de sel for when the salt really has to shine. I’ve even got one flavored salt these days, from Tuscan butcher Dario Cecchini. It finds its way onto popcorn (frequently) and other dishes (sometimes).

Pofi wine vinegar

Most of the time I make my own salad dressing: vinegar + oil + Dijon + salt + pepper, takes about 2 minutes. I also use wine vinegar to deglaze a pan and make a little pan juice to drizzle on whatever I cooked. Pofi has been my go-to for years, the great barrel aged wine vinegar from near Rome.

Marash red pepper

The counter next to my stove hasn’t been without a jar of these red pepper flakes for 20 years. Sometimes I put them in the freezer (they keep more moist that way, I really should keep them there), but whatever, they sit here now, and God willing, they always will.

Olive oils

I’ll be honest, this is always a hodge podge on my counter. I am lucky enough to have lots of olive oil samples come my way. I always keep an oil that’s for finishing. Sometimes two. One spicy and green (right now I’ve got a tentacle bottle from Puglia that we sell in different one-of-a-kind handmade bottles each year), one mild and sweet (currently Alziari). For my cooking oil, I usually buy California Ranch from the grocery store.

Fennel Pollen

My partner Ari called fennel pollen “fairy dust for food lovers,” a couple decades ago when we first discovered it and that’s still the absolutely best way to describe it. I put this on dishes just to see what it’ll do. Usually it makes eyes light up.

Finds from traveling

I always pick up something that’s easy to bring home when I’m traveling. From recent trips abroad I have a jar of dried Portuguese pepper, what they call pimentao, from Lisbon, and some Greek oregano and za’atar from Athens. I use these like I do the fennel pollen: put them on a dish, see what happens. It’s a fun way to cook. When they’re gone I’ll seek something else on some other journey.