The World’s Most Expensive Salt

                            Fleur de Sel reaches rock-star status with caramels or chocolate

Fleur de Sel, once used in ancient times as a medicinal salve, is now the priciest salt on earth.  It has a cult following among serious chefs around the world.  In fact, I think it's safe to say there isn't a Michelin star chef on the planet who doesn't have at least one Fleur de Sel at her/his beckon call.  Ironically, none of these gourmands actually cook with this salt.  Instead, once their cooking is completed, they add a small count of Fleur de Sel to the dish as a final finishing element to further flavor the food.

Originally from France, Fleur de Sel translates to "flower of salt."  It is so named because of its flower-like pattern of crystals.  Now made in other parts of the world, the product goes by the name of Flor de Sal in both Portugal and Spain.  Regardless of country of origin, the process is the same.  As seawater dries in special shallow pools called salt "farms," a delicate crust forms on the top.  Once the water completely evaporates the dried salt "flowers" must be harvested by hand due to their fragile nature.  It's a painstaking, labor-intensive process.  Thus the salt's high price ($10 for four ounces in the US).

Although Fleur de Sel has been popular with foodies for some decades, it was its use in the recent sweet-salty craze with items such as chocolate and caramel that really put it on the culinary map.  While it has long been known that sweet and salt are a perfect pairing, Fleur de Sel behaves differently in these combinations than other salts.  Due to this salt's high moisture content, the crystals often stick together.  This means that Fleur de Sel doesn't dissolve immediately.  Its snowflake structure allows it to dissolve more slowly thereby permitting the taste to linger in your mouth.  Moreover, Fleur de Sel is composed not only of sodium and chloride but of other trace minerals.  These adjunct minerals add complexity which further adds to the salt's unique flavor.

Like a good quality olive oil or fresh herbs, Fleur de Sel is one of those small but essential touches that changes a dish from something ordinary to sublime.  It's half the price in Europe and because its light in weight Fleur de Sel is the perfect tiem to bring in your suitcase from a sojourn across the Atlantic.