Bringing natural sea salts to life depends heavily upon the cooperation of Mother Nature and the considerable skill of the salt artisan. With the earth covered by vast oceans of salt water, you would think sea salt must be everywhere, but not so. That is where the skill and the long hours of patience waiting for the sun and wind to work their magic comes in. Each body of water has a unique mineral profile that further defines each salt’s individual flavor and texture.

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pictured: Salt Artisian Paludier | Brittany, France

The salt of the earth: The story of Fleur de Sel and Brittany Gray™ natural sea salts is simple yet complicated. Fleur de Sel is an all natural sea salt from Brittany, France that is unprocessed, unrefined, unadulterated and that’s the simple and delicious truth. Exactly where it is harvested and how it is made is much more difficult to achieve. In Brittany near the town of Guerande, France, there is a mini-climate that is much milder than the rest of Brittany. In this region, you'll find plenty of marshes and low lying areas, the currents of the Atlantic run cleaner than many other salt harvesting locations, and unlike the Camagarue, there are no nuclear power plants. Together these forces make Guerande an ideal "salt farm" region. Which is why it has no peer in Europe for the quality of salt produced.

Worth its weight in salt: The salt fields of de Guerande are a long, narrow series of basins that are flooded by gravity. The size allows an artisan paludier (craftsman salt harvester) to "sweep" the top of the evaporating sea water to harvest the precious Sel Gris de Guerande (hand harvested sea salt with a grey cast which is an entire season's evaporation). On warm, breezy afternoons when there is no rain, that single day's evaporation of salt crust on top of the salt pond is harvested as the Fleur de Sel. It is the least salty, purest part of the saline. The harvest (forming) is usually from May to September. And for every 80 pounds of Sel Gris (gray sea salt) produced, only three pounds of Fleur de Sel is harvested. This means that we are always assured of the quality and authenticity of this product.