Fleur de Sel (“Flower of Salt”)
To say I was anxious to get my hands on my own jar is a huge understatement.
Before I get to the rest of the review, allow me to just kind of set the stage for my salt fixation. Like pepper, salt is grossly taken for granted in the kitchen – to the point of ridiculousness. Most disappointments I encounter with food (in restaurants, for example) involves one thing: someone either failed to season the food or the didn’t season it enough.
I have an entire shelf (and she’s a big one) dedicated entirely to different varieties of salt, pepper, dried herbs and spices in my kitchen. This is the most essential part of my kitchen. Yes, I value (greatly!) my pots, pans, mixers, kitchen gadgets, and so on – but they, alone, could never pull together a great tasting meal.
I feel very strongly about starting with great ingredients and believe that salt and pepper should be at the foreground of just about any recipe or meal preparation. When I read a recipe that says, “… add a dash of salt” as though it’s an afterthought, I cringe. When someone says, “salt and pepper, optional” – I know we’ll never be friends.
So there you have it. Spices and seasonings rule my kitchen like royalty and salt and pepper are the King and Queen.
Fleur de Sel and Salt Samples from Artisanal Foods
The first thing I noticed about my jar of Fleur de Sel was the fact that it’s a real beauty. My “royal” shelf is open for the world to see in my kitchen, so I covet pretty, eye-catching containers. This one more than fits the bill. I also realized, right away, that I’ll be able to use and re-use this little jar forever.
Fleur de Sel’s fine, light crystals are as beautiful as the jar they call home. They have a delicate, wonderful flavor along with a high concentration of minerals that makes this possibly the best finishing salt in the salt world.
Fleur de Sel has been gathered on an island off of France’s Atlantic coast, since the seventh century. It is harvested from the sea foam created by winds passing over salt ponds.
The light, unobtrusive… yet unmistakable… sea salt dissolves instantly into your food, not only providing just the right seasoning – but also bringing out the best in that particular food.
Pasta Topped with Fleur de Sel
We’ve been using it religiously on tomatoes, salads, pasta, watermelon, eggs, potatoes… the list goes on and on. I’m not sure why, but I’ve been the most blown away by what Fleur de Sel brings to the party with eggs and pasta dishes. It truly makes scrambled eggs, fried eggs, deviled eggs, omelets, spaghetti, ravioli, and even macaroni and cheese taste better than ever.
Then again, if I’m being honest, I think the same thing when I use it with potatoes or any other vegetable.
This is simply a beautiful artisan salt and I can’t imagine my spice shelf without it.
I 110% recommend heading over to Artisanal Foods and grabbing a jar of Fleur de Sel. It’s just around $15 and, quite frankly, I’d have given that for the reusable jar alone. While on their website, also take a look at the other artisanal salts, spices, seasonings, coffee, vanilla, and so on. They also have a lot of wonderful cheeses that I have my eye on. The Fleur de Sel – or anything else on the website, for that matter – would make an ideal gift for the foodies in your life. You could actually put together a gift basket to end all gift baskets.
Just be sure to grab some Fleur de Self for yourself. Adding special seasonings, spices, and artisanal ingredients to your kitchen keeps your cooking fresh, flavorful, and fun.
Head over to Artisanal Foods and open up a whole new culinary world.
