A Guide to Fleur de Sel: The Flower of Salt

Sometimes, you spend hours and hours cooped up in the kitchen, prettified with your fanciest apron, armored with restaurant-caliber appliances, and the finest ingredients - ready to take on the new recipe you just found a couple of days ago. Yet, when the time of the final tasting comes, it turns out that a carefully-crafted dish of yours is missing something…You can’t wrap your head around it. “What could you be?” echoes your mind while panic is starting to set in! Okay, we’re making it sound a little bit more dramatic than how it usually goes, but you get what we mean, right? It happens to even the most deft-handed home-cooks, and we might just have found the cure for unexpected flatness of flavors.

It's the finishing salt your creation lacks! Yep, with just a pinch of the finest quality salt, all of your culinary journeys are bound to end with victories! It will do the trick; we even got science to back it up. The finishing salt, or any other type, brings out and amplifies the flavors of your concoctions - specifically, savory and sweet undertones.  It turns out our glucose sensor gets triggered by sodium, which, in the end, is the guy responsible for registering sweetness - thanks, salt! And, since sea salt is the saltiest of the peers, it gets the job done better and easier!

We’re confident you’re already familiar with the table and kosher salt - two of the least flavorful salts, the ho-hums of sodium chloride, perfect for those who have too much fun doing “Salt Bae'' impressions (remember that guy, who’d salt meats with his hand above, letting every crystal drop elegantly in slow motion, yep, that’s the one we’re talking about) - it's so mild, you can't really oversalt your dish. However, for those trying to master the marvelous blending of flavors, we have the perfect nominee to take place in your pantry!

Renowned Fleur De Sel salt is the perfect seasoning garnish for your meals and pastry goods, too. While it also comes in fine crystals, coarse ones are just right for adding that delicious crunch to your daily treats! More importantly, it only takes just a pinch to add flavor to your day. So, we’re going to tell you all about where it comes from, which are the best and, of course, where to buy Fleur de Sel. We think you already know the answer, but still!

Fleur de Sel is unique sea salt, renowned for its refined texture and full-bodied flavor. Just a little bit is more than enough for your palate, so it's often deemed as a finishing salt. It can be used to heighten flavors or top your breakfast eggs, roasted veggies, meats, and fish with pleasant savory bites. And, sweet pastry is not an exception, either! Fleur de Sel crystals are delicate, and after the initial crunch, they dissolve quickly, so don't think about it too much - add just a little bit after serving your dish and enjoy!

While ordinary table salts are usually stripped of most of their unique characteristics, occurring in natural conditions, Fleur De Sel salt is the flavorful opposite. The sought-after, highly-prized salt is harvested from specifically constructed marshes, or, as we call it, salt farms. Making Fleur De Sel salt takes specific natural conditions, a seawater evaporation process, and unique extraction methods - simple, right?! That's why Fleur de Sel is relatively expensive.

The coastal area for harvesting Fleur De Sel salt includes several regions of Brittany, Western France, such as Guerande, Ile de Re island, Noirmoutier, and Camargue, to name a few. So, it’s only natural that this unique sea salt has a French name, which, as you might’ve guessed from the title, translates to the flower of salt - since sea salt crystals are just as delicate as flowers!

The connoisseur-favorite sea salt is a laborious seasoning. They are seasonally collected from salt beds only when weather conditions are appropriate for farmers to skim them with wooden rakes from the water’s surface. Unlike regular salt, Fleur de Sel salt is not processed after harvesting, so they retain that natural goodness. That’s why it’s one of the most complex salts on the market, with a higher amount of minerals, magnesium chlorides, and natural moisture, hence the pleasant crunch. However, most importantly, it’s the saltiest one, too, so a little goes a long way. To sum it up, Fleur de Sel tastes like the ocean but is way more delicious!

Now you might be wondering - is Fleur de Sel the same as sea salt? Well, not quite. Obviously, they both owe their origin to the ocean, but that’s not all that matters. As we have mentioned before, Fleur de Sel is sourced from water’s surface, unlike regular sea salt, which, to put it simply, is the byproduct of the finished evaporation process that gets washed, dried, and sieved. While sea salt has a mild flavor and solid structure, French Fleur de Sel is too moist for salt mills; therefore, it’s unprocessed.

What’s special about Fleur de Sel de Guérande that deserves its own section? We’re glad to tell you all about it. It’s harvested from the Guérande Peninsula, strictly by the local families. The artisanal methods are what makes Fleur de Sel de Guérande stand out. According to some, the Guérande region has a centuries-old experience harvesting sea salt - apparently, they started in the third century - turns out, an early bird gets the best French sea salt, too.

Local salt farmers called paludiers collect salt from warmer seasons through the fall, depending on weather conditions. They work with lousse, a type of rake designed to pick up delicate salt crystals without dropping or destroying them, which takes unmatched precision. The salt sourced is then drained and ready to add flavor to your dishes with just a pinch. Guérande marshes can only yield about 2.2 pounds of sea salt each, explaining why it has become a gourmet luxury!

So, if you’re keen on adding a flavorful crunch to your pastries or intensifying the culinary magic of your creation, you can’t go wrong with authentic Fleur de Sel de Guerande salt by Le Guerandais. The brand was founded in the 80s when the collective of salt workers took matters of preserving Guerande salt marshes into their own hands. Every product by Le Guerandais is produced from manually-harvested sea salt without additional processing or additives. With just a pinch, you’ll know why French Fleur de Sel de Guérande is IGP (Protected Geographical Indication) protected seasoning! If you want to test the waters of French specialties, make a classic regional goody from Brittany - famous buckwheat crepes known as galettes. And yes, it might sound familiar since they share the name with traditional French butter cookies. For a yummy savory crepe, you’ll only need cheese, egg, spinach, of course, French buckwheat flour to make a crepe, and Fleur de Sel for finishing touches!

However, for an exquisite touch, Guerande grey salt with white truffles by Tartuflanghe will be just perfect. The unique product is infused with freeze-dried white truffles Tuber Magnatum Pico to add ever-so-slight garlicky saltiness to your meals. Visual appeal, addictive texture, and, of course, a burst of flavor, Tartuflanghe can do it all! Aside from obvious applications, Fleur de Sel with white truffles will taste ineffable with classic sweets, such as caramel or even chocolate!

Along with Guerande sea salt, the Camargue variety is one of the most famous French salt for fine food harvested from the Camargue region in Provence. While the former has grayish hues, the latter is eye-catchingly white with a more delicate and dry texture, so the crunch is immaculate. The Camargue salt farm uses a structured irrigation system to direct seawater in more beneficial ways for producing flavorful sea salt. With Camargue Fleur de Sel, you can add little pockets of flavor and texture to your grilled meats, fish, salads, or even simple popcorn. Le Saunier de Camargue Fleur de Sel is something you’re guaranteed to come across when peeking through a professional chef’s grocery list of secret-weapon must-haves. The exquisitely rich salt crystals will add enticing touches to everything from your quick morning omelet or even backyard BBQ! To indulge yourself like a foodie, try sprinkling some on top of butter at the dinner table or simply serve it with your bruschetta.

However, for those looking for elegance to enchant Sunday dinner guests, Camargue Fleur de Sel with Provence herbs by Arnaud is spot-on! Not only does it treat you to the luxury of the finest French sea salt, but even the legendary Herbs de Provence - a tried-and-tested classic mix of rosemary, basil, thyme, marjoram, savory. All you have left to do is sprinkle some on your dish and enjoy truly French food without boarding a plane!

Since now you know where to buy Fleur de Sel, there’s no stopping you! Keep in mind, just a pinch, and we mean it literally, is more than enough to prettify your dishes with restaurant-caliber flavors to please your palates with whatever it is that you’ve got cooking! So, choose your favorite from our French Fleur de Sel selection and enjoy perfectly seasoned steak or roasted veggies. The choice is all yours!