Thursday’s Special : Estival

I’ve always meant to tell the story of Flor de Sal, so much a part of summer here in the Algarve.  A walk through the salt marshes is one of the joys of summer, though you do have to pick your days as it can be unbearably hot.  A hint of breeze can make all the difference.

The pink colouration, from crill, especially transfixes the eye.  The fusion of sunshine and salt water creates the salt crystals, which need high temperature and strong sunshine with only gentle winds.  This year conditions have been perfect and it’s a very good harvest.

The process starts around April, when the tanks are prepared.  Mud and clay has hardened over the years and a first channel of salt water is fed in with the tide, to a good depth.  The system of tanks or reservoirs are connected with locks and channels, and gradually the saltwater is transferred to increasingly shallow tanks, warming the water in the process.  Finally it reaches the crystallisation tanks where, from June to August, ‘flor de sal’ is formed.  The fragile crystals form on the saltwater surface.  Harvesting is done by hand, the ‘marnotos’ being highly skilful in collecting the crystals, which must never touch the bottom of the pans.  They are raked gently off and left to dry in the hot sun for 7 days, where they become more crunchy, and identifiable as the ‘flor de sal’ which is sold in the markets.  Their appearance through a microscope is like a flower.  Just one more miracle of summer.

Many thanks to Paula, at Thursday’s Special, for the inspiration.

74 comments

  1. Thanks for posting this Jo. I’ve never thought too much about salt, but recently read “Salt” by Mark Kurlansky and was surprised to learn that the method is really ancient and largely unchanged. Well, if it ain’t broke and all that …

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      2. I should have given the full title “Salt; A World History”
        It’s about how important salt has been to civilisations. Can’t remember the exact detail, but I know in Roman times some workers were paid in salt (sal) hence the word salary. It’s full of stuff like that.

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  9. Has this Portuguese salt not become one of the ‘artisan must-have’ salts? I haven’t seen it in the shops. I must say I am tempted by some of them but I think that’s down to the packaging and I managed to resist all but the French Flor de Sel (I think that’s what it was called) and the Himalayan pink salt just because it looked so pretty. I’ve seen the workers in Thailand in the salt fields there and I felt so sorry for them, it almost made me give up that tasty essential.

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    1. I don’t think it’s widely marketed outside of the Algarve, Mari, let alone Portugal. It has a lovely crunch and flavour to it. I don’t suppose it’s the happiest occupation when it’s really hot, but much of the year will be fine and they take great pride in the salt. 🙂 🙂

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  11. Love the photos! You have talked about the salt pans before but never in summer. Must be relentless heat out there with no shade. Hope you were wearing a hat, or maybe carrying a parasol and one of those teeny hand-held battery fans 🤔 I use Cornish salt, but I suspect it’s not dried by the sun!

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