The famous Guérande sea salt has been harvested for over 2000 years by the salt farmers of Brittany in the old tradition. The salt marshes are made of greyish-blue clay. It releases important minerals and trace elements to the salt crystal and gives this Atlantic sea salt its unique greyish colour and unmistakable taste. The Guérande sea salt with its strong salt note goes well with many dishes. Due to its high residual moisture content, it is only partially suitable for the salt mill.
The salt marshes
In southern Brittany and throughout the centuries, man and ocean have created the Guérande peninsula, which gave birth to Europe’s most northern salt marshes. From Le Pouliguen in the south to Assérac in the north, passing through Guérande, the salt marshes extend over more than 2,000 hectares and 9 towns, on clay soil that forms an open-air mosaic.
Tradition was passed down over time, preserving harvesting techniques suited to this special environment. Use of high and low tides and natural energy sources (wind, sun, gravity), use of three types of basins, daily harvesting in the water, no mechanised processes and human-scale farmlands are some of the characteristics that define this high-quality natural product: Guérande salt!
Guérande salt’s roots go far back in history.
It has been harvested on the peninsula since the Iron Age. The first salt works to use the storage capacity of the lagoon goes back to the 3rd century, shortly after the Roman conquest. But the real inspiration behind the salt marshes were the monks from Landévennec Abbey (Абатство Landévennec), who, in 945, founded Batz Priory and carved them out. By studying the tides, wind and sun, the monks mapped out a plan of the salt works, which is the one we see today. A titanic project, this open-air factory brought prosperity to Guérande for many centuries and opened up the first trading routes in Europe: it was the Eldorado of Brittany.
The current exploitation technique goes back to before the 9th century. At least five salt works from the Carolingian period are still in operation on the marshes. This tradition of the salt worker’s profession and the preservation of his skills have allowed the Guérande marshes to survive through to modern times.
Ingredients:
Sea salt from the Guérande - fine
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