Chef shares secrets to showcasing pork with new Pig Salt Spice Company

Grab your favorite cut of pork and fire up your barbecue.

Joe White is opening his kitchen to the public and sharing his culinary secrets to curing your own bacon, turning pork into dessert and introducing bold flavors to your chops and ribs.

The former head chef of Parallel 45 in Tualatin has taken some of the seasonings and spices he used at the popular wine bar and bistro and started carefully balancing and packaging them for consumers.

The Tualatin resident recently launched Pig Salt Spice Company, and the pioneer of the pork palate says his handmade artisan cures, spices, rubs and salts are taking off.

Since launching pigsalt.com on March 1, which is National Pig Day, White admits he's been amazed at who has discovered Pig Salt's unique blend of seasonings.

"I've received a decent amount of orders from all over the country," White says. "I've even gotten orders from the barbecue belt, places like Texas and Tennessee who are known for their barbecue and who are always looking to find a new rub.

"It's interesting to see who ends up finding you."

Closer to home, he's also received what he considers a great reception from butcher shops and specialty markets, who have cleared space to carry his line of spices.

"I've seen a lot of universal rubs on the market, but not one made to accent the flavors of pork," says White, who earned his culinary arts degree and sommelier certification in Scottsdale, Ariz. "Flavors like fennel, sage and coriander bring out the taste of pork and highlight it."

The right ingredients

The idea to start his own line of spices was inspired by helping his dad make ribs last summer.

"My dad got a bunch of ribs, and I was teaching him how to make a rub and his own barbecue sauce out of it," White recalls. "I realized with the right ingredients and a few tips, my dad was capable of creating high-end restaurant flavor."

Last November, White began cooking up an idea for his own business.

"All of the cures, spices and rubs are inspired by recipes I've done or used for the last 10 years or so of cooking," he says. "I cure my own bacon.

"Store bought bacon just depresses me. If you have a six-pack worth of space in your fridge, there is nothing to stop you from curing your own bacon. It's so easy."

When Parallel 45's lease ended in February, White got the time he needed to rent a certified kitchen in St. Johns and start mixing up blends to help home cooks get the most out of pork with the flavors of a trained chef.

"I like pork the best," he says of his reason for focusing on what some consider "the other white meat."

"You can do more interesting things with pork that are cost effective, unique and easy for your typical cook," he adds. "Pork belly is awesome."

The Pig Salt line offers an Original Pig Salt, Makin' Bacon Cure, Candy Bacon, Southwest BBQ Pork Rub and Hawaiian Finishing Salt. Each hand-stamped rustic bag comes with a recipe card attached by butcher's twine.

"I added recipe cards at the end because I felt like something was missing," he says.

The cards offer tips to help people layer the flavors of the spices as opposed to just opening a bottle and dumping on a pre-made sauce.

"The idea is not to cover, but rather layer," he says.

Perfect blend

As the executive chef at Café Murrayhill in Beaverton, White says he's found not only the perfect blend for his line of spices but also for his career, which allows him to build his own company while continuing to work as a full-time chef, crafting a new menu and wine program for the restaurant.

"I grew up in Wenatchee, where there are a lot of local orchards and farms," he says "At a young age, I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a chef."

His earliest memories in the kitchen are baking goodies with his mother when he was 4.

"I had all the recipes memorized and would get everything out and measured so that we would have to bake them," he says.

Now, he's helping strangers do the same thing, by laying out all the tools they need to make candied bacon to top peach crepes or barbecue ribs for summer cookouts.

"It's been very satisfying to see how far this idea has come," he says. "Now, I just need more time to set up meetings."

For more information about the Pig Salt product line, recipes and more, visit pigsalt.com.