It is widely agreed: the consumption of high levels of salt – of any type – may be damaging to health and is one of the main causes of high blood pressure, strokes and cardiovascular disease. Moderate levels of consumption are advised of up to 5 grams per day.
Less frequently discussed and studied unfortunately is the quality of the salt consumed and on this matter there is information that needs to be taken into account.
While refined and industrialised salt has a high level of sodium and virtually no nutrients, fleur de sel and the manually harvested salt that has not been processed is high in nutrients and mineral salts that are essential to health and the human body with some 84 trace elements.
Let´s just break this down.
The benefits of fleur de sel are varied and are of different types.
As happens with organic products, Salmarim Fleur de sel is certified by SATIVA and by Nature & Progrès as a hand-crafted product that is equivalent for the salt to environmentally friendly certification that ensures that there is a minimum of external elements involved.
This means that its harvesting and processing is the most natural possible with production that uses hand-crafting methods that guarantee that there are no polluting elements or additives involved in the process.
At a time when all production methods are questioned on the adding of chemicals and the sustainability of the techniques used, being produced by means of solar evaporation, fleur de sel and sea salt are products that are important. The truth is that there is much more to be said.
As well as it not being processed, fleur de sel contains a wide variety of nutrients and mineral salts – some 84 trace elements including iron, zinc, magnesium, iodine, calcium, potassium, copper and fluoride – many more than other types of salt in addition to having a higher level of sodium chloride.
Furthermore, the purity of the water should be taken into account as Castro Marim has one of the least polluted estuaries in Europe.
The Midas touch
A famous figure from Greek mythology, the king of Phrygia who was famous for transforming everything that he touched into gold. If this power ever existed, those who have it today are the chefs who have the inspiration and the capacity to transform common ingredients into combinations of extraordinary flavours and aromas that take the palate to a different level.
Therefore, curiosity about innovative products together with concerns about food being more and more healthy and sustainable led to the discovery of fleur de sel along with all of its culinary benefits, the main one being in sweet and savoury recipes, bringing out the flavours and the aromas of food.