“Fleur de sel”, a treasure of nature.

The book “Le sel à petits pas” (The salt in small steps) guides children and all kinds of curious readers to discover many surprises about the paths of salt, its uses, its history (it was even a valuable trade currency in the past), and its importance, and how it is strictly connected to living creatures and plants, being as essential to life as water and oxygen.

In a poetic way, readers can be fascinated by the variety of formats salt can have, including the shape of a flower. In summer, when it rarely rains and evaporation is very intense, the salt crystallizes into crystals so fine that they float to the surface at the bank level. These ‘salt flowers’ are very white because they never touch the ground. Reading such descriptions stimulates the desire to travel with the mind, and also physically, imagining flying over such salt marshes covered with beautiful, endless white flowers, beautiful to the eye, rough to the touch, and with an intense flavor but a delicate texture.

While reading the pages dedicated to “salt flowers”, the desire to make some specific research arised, becoming aware that “Fior di sale” is harvested mainly in the south of France (in fact, it is also known worldwide by the French name ‘Fleur du sal’), in Portugal, and in Italy in Sicily, Romagna and Sardinia. As we mentioned earlier, it is only harvested in a very short period of time, i.e. within two summer months. It is formed on the surface of the water and expert salt miners collect it using special nets during the early morning hours when there is no wind. Otherwise, the risk is to see this precious salt precipitate to the bottom of the pool.

Fior di sale does not undergo any kind of chemical treatment and in fact contains no additives and its grains are coarse, about 3 millimetres in size. Today, it is considered a very precious and rare commodity, whose delicate flavour does not leave a bitter taste in the mouth.

It does not undergo any kind of processing, which is why all the properties present in seawater remain intact, and, because of this, it is particularly sought after, as it supports the functioning of our organism in an exceptional way. For example, it helps to maintain stable blood pressure levels.

Enjoy the booktrailer to discover other aspects and curiosities about this precious resource, bestowed by nature, and which man has learnt to discover and use in various useful ways over millennia.

Le sel à petits pas

AUTHOR

Alessia Simonetti

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