Ile de Ré sea salt crystals

How to cook with the coarse salt of Île de Ré?

Its granular texture and subtle flavors make it an ideal companion for cooking, brining, seasoning, and even plating dishes. Use it to brine meats before grilling, to season oven-roasted vegetables, to add flavor to soups and sauces, or to create a crispy crust on roasted meats. You can also use it to delicately decorate and salt dishes just before serving.

Some recipe ideas to use the coarse salt of Île de Ré

• - Salmon with coarse salt of Île de Ré: Cover a salmon fillet with coarse salt of Île de Ré, add fresh herbs like dill or parsley, then let it marinate for a few hours. Then, rinse the salmon with cold water, pat it dry, and serve it with a squeeze of lemon;
• - Roasted potatoes with coarse salt of Île de Ré: Cut potatoes into wedges and toss them with coarse salt of Île de Ré, olive oil, and Herbes de Provence. Arrange them on a baking sheet and roast in the oven until golden and crispy;
• - Pork chops with coarse salt of Île de Ré: Rub pork chops with coarse salt of Île de Ré and pepper. Let them rest for about 1 hour then grill them on a barbecue or in a skillet until cooked through;
• - Seafood with coarse salt of Île de Ré: Use coarse salt of Île de Ré to cook seafood like shrimp, mussels, or clams. Layer coarse salt in a large pot, place the seafood on top, then cover with another layer of coarse salt. Cook over medium heat;
• - Filet mignon in salt crust: Cover a filet mignon with coarse salt of Île de Ré mixed with egg whites to form a crust. Bake in the oven until the crust is golden and the meat is cooked;
• - Ratatouille with coarse salt of Île de Ré: Prepare a classic ratatouille by cooking vegetables like tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, and eggplants in olive oil with garlic and Herbes de Provence. Before serving, sprinkle with coarse salt of Île de Ré to enhance the flavors.

The flavors of coarse salt from Île de Ré

This naturally mineral-rich sea salt benefits from the influence of the preserved environment of Île de Ré, located off the French Atlantic coast. Its subtle taste evokes the salty sea spray, while its granular texture adds a crispy touch to dishes.

The delicate harvesting of coarse salt from Île de Ré

Coarse salt from Île de Ré is the result of delicate artisanal work, under ideal climatic conditions: plenty of sun, sea, and wind. It is on the surface of the salt pans (basins of salt marshes) that this thin layer of white crystals forms, during the evaporation of water, under the combined action of the sun and the sea breeze. If the fleur de sel is not harvested, it falls to the bottom of the basins during the night and crystallizes until it becomes coarse salt. It is the harvesting methods of the salt workers that determine the fineness of the coarse salt. Using a lousse, the salt worker carefully makes his selections. The movements must be slow and precise.

A treasure buried under the sand of Île de Ré

The first salt marshes are said to have appeared on Île de Ré in the 13th century. Jewels of the French coastline, these 4 islands, which now form only one, owe everything to salt. The salt marsh territories represented 1500 hectares in the 19th century, which is a little more than 15% of the island's surface. Like potato and vine cultivation, the cultivation of fleur de sel has persisted through the centuries.