Portuguese Sea Salt

This Portuguese sea salt is made in a similar all-natural fashion (see below) by the same co-op that produces ultra-high quality Flor de Sal. This makes it some of the purest salt available. While Flor de Sal is a perfect finishing salt and would be wasted if used during the cooking process, this sea salt can be used as you would conventional salt.

Two consistencies are available:
Coarse: Sea salt crystals that have been left with their natural size, shape & moisture content.
Fine: Coarse salt that has been completely dried and ground to a finer consistency.

How Portugese Sea Salt is Made:
This sea salt is hand-harvested using traditional methods older than the Roman Empire by a co-operative operating in a Portuguese nature reserve. Pure sea water is allowed to run naturally (via tidal movements) into a holding pool. It is then collected and moved to small salt pans, where the natural heat of the sun and natural wind movement began to evaporate it.

As time passes, salt crystals begin to form in the water. The topmost crystals are skimmed off daily as Flor de Sal. However, salt crystallization continues below the water’s surface. Every two to three weeks the fully formed sea salt is hand-harvested from the salt pan.

Great care is taken during harvesting not to disturb the clay at the bottom of the pan, in order to protect the salt’s flavor and brilliant white color. The salt is then dried in the sun for five days (next to the salt pan) before being packaged for sale as coarse sea salt. No bleaching, pumping, mechanical processing, anti-caking agents, iodine or chemicals are involved.

Fine Portuguese sea salt undergoes two further steps: it is dried in a kiln to remove its retained ocean moisture, and it is ground to a finer consistency.

Certified Natural:
This Portuguese Sea Salt is certified natural by Nature et Progrès (equivalent to organic certification in produce). It retains healthy trace minerals and the coarse salt also contains (though dry to the touch) a tiny amount of moisture from the sea.

Applications: Natural Portuguese sea salt can be used as you would conventional salt in any application. The finely ground natural sea salt is the better choice for baking (it’s a great option for completely organic desserts & organic bread making) as it will dissolve more easily in batters and dough without introducing extra moisture.

How to Store and Share: Store sea salt from Portugal in a cool, dry place indefinitely.

Origin: Ria Formosa Nature Reserve, Portugal

Shipping Method: UPS Ground