Salmarincy — sea salt as a food product | salmarincy.com
Guerande fleur de sel, Maldon flakes, Khewra pink salt and table salt compared by origin, crystal size and kitchen use.
Fleur de sel is a hand-harvested surface salt from the salt marshes of Guerande in Brittany, France. It is collected in summer when wind and sun form a thin crust on the water, and the moist crystals are used to finish cooked dishes rather than to cook with.
Maldon sea salt has been produced in Maldon, Essex, England since 1882. It is known for hollow pyramid-shaped flakes that break under the tooth, which makes it a finishing salt as well.
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Pink Himalayan salt is mined at the Khewra Salt Mine in Punjab, Pakistan, the second-largest salt mine in the world. Unlike the two salts above it is not evaporated from seawater, so the crystal is cut and ground rather than formed by sun and wind.
Generic sea salt is evaporated seawater with no protected origin. It usually comes in coarse grains of 1-3 millimetres, which makes it the practical choice for brines and everyday cooking where the salt must dissolve.
All of these sit in the same 97-99 percent sodium chloride band as table salt. The differences that matter in a recipe are crystal size, which sets the spoon weight, and whether the salt was iodized.
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