After more than a decade of working as a chef in restaurants around North Carolina, Nancy Burns reconnected with her own gastronomic heritage. Her time in the kitchen led to an interest in collecting salts from around the globe. Eventually she started to research her own roots and the history of salt in West Virginia.
Burns is the fourth great-granddaughter of the man who started JQ Dickenson Saltworks back in 1817. The saltworks ceased operation in 1945. In 2013, Burns and her brother revived the family business.
West Virginia geology has lent itself to salt formations and mining as many know. Burns approaches salt as an “agricultural product,” not a mineral and uses the sun to evaporate the brine as part of the salt-making process. Once the salt is harvested from large beds in greenhouses, some of it is with imbued with local flavors such as ramps, mushrooms, and even ghost peppers. Burns also ages some of her salt in bourbon barrels for additional complexity.
JQD Saltworks sources a monthly subscription box, which is aimed at teaching people how to creatively use the salts by providing recipe inspiration and education. Seven times a year, the Saltworks host chefs onsite from the region to make a dinner featuring local ingredients and also incorporate the salts.
The Saltworks facility is open for tours to see the magic behind the scenes. It is also possible to do a salt tasting in the rustic company store. The store is stocked with both JQD Saltworks items and a variety of artisan goods ranging from soaps to hand-carved wood products made by craftspeople from across Appalachia.