The History of Rubbo Salt

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Rubbo Salt started as a holiday gift idea when Donald wanted to share his love of flavorful food infused with health-giving properties with our friends and family. He remembered the herbs and spices from his childhood, the ones his father taught him to cook with (we've written the story of how Donald's father taught him to cook in "My Father's Miraculous Rock Soup"), and he brought to life creating food with the love that he learned from his father, with this Salt. He shares this love, and superb flavorings, with you through Rubbo Salt.
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We blend Fleur de Sel de Guérande with nine organic herbs and spices, which have been chosen by Donald for their exquisite flavor profile and profound health benefits.

Donald’s lifelong love of culinary arts was instilled in him at the age of 9 by his artist father, Don Rubbo Sr., who taught him to cook, using the inspirational story of Rock Soup (Stone Soup) as his introduction to flavors, colors, textures and aromas and the gift of sharing with others.

Don Sr. taught Donald to cook the cuisines of many cultures, and the importance of choosing the finest produce, and the prime meats, fish and poultry. He taught Donald love, generosity and joy, in extending the sometimes scant food they had so that they could share what they cooked with many, including inviting strangers and the less fortunate to enjoy a delicious, home-cooked meal with the Rubbos at their dinner table, in Manhattan, NY, in the 1960’s and 70’s.

Using the age-old Rock Soup story, Don Sr. brought to vivid life his joy in preparing food with love for his family. 

(Rock Soup is a timeless folk story of generosity and cooperation in the midst of scarcity.)
 
Donald's father was proudly half-Italian and half-Irish. He was a great story-teller, and confident in his talent (he’d say to anyone in earshot that he had the gift of gab.) His stories always inspired Donald and stirred his imagination, his words somehow triggered all of Donald's senses. Don Sr. was also a gifted cook and as he spoke, Donald recalls that he could actually hear pleasing sounds, smell delightful scents, taste sublime flavors and see bright, colorful images.
 
His father began by sending Donald out, through the streets of the Bronx, to find a rock. Miraculously, after several hours, by the railroad tracks near Yankee Stadium, Donald found the perfect rock, round, smooth and white. Then, Don Sr. took Donald to the produce trucks that brought vegetables into the city neighborhoods from outlying farms, and showed Donald how to pick the perfect vegetables by sight, smell and feel.
 
Back at the apartment, while telling Donald the Rock Soup story, Don Sr. showed him how to use a sharp knife, how to cut the vegetables, how to make a stock from the peelings, how to make mirepoix for deep, rich flavor, and to focus intently on the process itself and imbue everything one does with love.  

The Rubbo family stretching their food to feed many, including homeless. 

The most important lesson Don Sr. taught his son, through teaching him the Rock Soup story and in so many other ways, was the importance of sharing what you have, pooling resources with others, to lift up and nurture, so that everyone may be fed and feel loved.

Scriptural references to Salt:
Keep on having salt among yourselves, and live in peace with one another. Mark 9:50
You are the salt of the earth. Matthew 5:13
Let your conversations be always full of grace, seasoned with salt so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4:6