Salt - an essential part of our nutrition
Salt is part of everyday lives and essential for the body. It is in blood and cells and plays a crucial role in overall health. As with so many things, it is about the balance: The body needs salt, but too much is not good for it.
The many faces of salt
There are three different types of table salt, which differ in their origin and the ways they are obtained: sea salt, rock salt and vacuum salt. The basic composition is the same for all types of salt.
Sea salt
Sea salt is harvested by pouring sea water into shallow basins where the water naturally evaporates through the power of sun and wind. In conventional salt harvesting, special machines help to harvest, wash and dry the sea salt. Depending on the region and weather conditions, sea salt can have different colours. In Brittany, for example, the sea salt harvested tends to be greyish in colour, while in the Mediterranean region it tends to be white. The grey colour of the salt comes from fine particles like clay that mix with the salt crystals.
Some sea salt is still harvested by hand today, using traditional methods. This artisanal process requires time, patience, and expertise. Traditional sea salt is neither washed nor industrially dried, forming naturally from just the sea, sun, and wind.
Fleur de Sel - ‘flower of the sea’
This exceptional salt develops on hot days when warm winds create delicate salt crystals on the water’s surface. The fine salt crystals are carefully harvested by hand and have a special structure. Professional chefs and gourmets appreciate it for its delicate, light texture, which melts quickly in the mouth. This salt is a real highlight for the kitchen and for special moments of pleasure.
Rock salt
Rock salt is formed where primordial seas evaporated by the sun millions of years ago. What remained was salt, which was covered by layers of earth and rock over the course of time. Today it lies deep underground, where it is brought to the surface by mining.
Rock salt comes in different colors, even in pink or blue. Pink rock salt is mainly known from the Himalayan region but is also found in other regions of the world, such as Germany. The pink color is mainly due to a natural iron content in the salt. Blue rock salt gets its color from minerals such as potassium and iron and is mainly known from Persia.
Vacuum salt
Vacuum salt is obtained by dissolving salt deep in the earth with water. The result is a salty solution called brine. It is transported to the earth’s surface and heated in a vacuum system so that the water evaporates more easily. What remains are fine salt crystals – vacuum salt.
