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Here is chance to discover the secrets that have forged the reputation of Le Guérandais Guérande salt: an outstanding conservation area, a thousand-year-old traditional profession and a desire to share our enthusiasm for original salt. Read on below to learn how simple sea salt is elevated to a cherished ingredient.

Guérande salt

Twice a day, during the high tides, water from the open sea flows into the marshes...

The salt worker opens a valve to give it access to the primary pond (vasičre)...

Then, the sun, the wind, and the salt workers expertise evaporate the water until the salt finally crystallises in the crystallization ponds (oeillets).

Here follows the astonishing metamorphosis of a simple drop of water into a tiny grain of salt...

How salt is formed

The Guérande marshes are a patchwork of ponds of varying geometric shapes, whose structure has been formed by the history and topography of the soil.

The salt works is a production unit, a place where the salt worker works. In summer, at each high tide, the salt worker opens a hatch and fills his vasičre (the first evaporation pond on the circuit, which acts as a reserve between tides) with seawater. The vasičre also acts as a settling pond in which particles in suspension, carried by the sea, will be deposited.

A slight, constant change in level allows the water to flow into the evaporation ponds (the cobier, fares and adernes), which act as a daily reserve, supplying the final set of ponds - the illets- from which the salt is harvested. With a salt concentration of around 25 g/l, the Atlantic Ocean flows into the Croisic Straits, then along a system of channels, the étiers, right to the heart of the Guérande basin several miles from the ocean. Once in the vasičre, the water will be warmed by its long journey through the various ponds and it will be evaporated by the sun and wind. In the illet, the water reaches a level of concentration at which the salt crystallises (280 g/l).

The work and technique of the salt worker lies in carefully adjusting the water levels in the various ponds in order to harvest the fruit of his labour, the famous Le Guérandais salt.

Flower of salt

In the last few years, flower of salt has gained a certain reputation amongst food lovers. Very white, with fine, snow-like crystals and a very slight hint of violets, it enhances meals by bringing out the taste of even the finest dishes. Only a pinch should be used on raw or cooked food.

Youll find examples of how it is used, from starter to dessert, in the RECIPES section on our site.

Flower of salt is harvested in the Guérande salt marshes, late in the afternoon during very dry weather. Under the combined effect of the sun and a dry east wind, a fine skin of crystals forms on the surface of the illets.

This skin, which is a pure white as it has never touched clay, is carefully gathered by the salt workers using a special rake known as the lousse ŕ fleur. The very special weather conditions and the small quantity produced make it a rare and much sought-after product.

Flower of salt has been recognized by great chefs as a great, flavour-enhancing treasure for many years, and is now available to everyone thanks to the work of Le Guérandais.

Coarse sea salt

Guérande coarse sea salt has always been hand-harvested using traditional methods and is well known for its culinary virtues. It is naturally grey as it crystallises on contact with the clay from which it takes its high trace element content. Less salty than Mediterranean salt, Guérande salt is softer on the palate and richer in flavour which makes it the salt that cooks prefer for salting stocks and the water used for cooking vegetables, and also for barbecues and meat and fish cooked in a salt crust. Unwashed, unrefined and additive-free, it adds flavour to traditional family cooking.

Coarse salt is harvested every day in summer when mild weather combines wind and sun on the Guérande peninsula. In the late afternoon, under the effect of evaporation, the salt is concentrated to a level of to 280 g/l, when it then crystallises and is deposited on the clay in the illets. The salt worker uses a wide wooden rake known as a las to push the salt to the edges of the pond. He then pulls it on to the ladure, a round platform made of clay, where it is left for the night to drain. Next day, the salt worker uses a wooden wheelbarrow to carry the 60 kg of salt per illet to the large stockpile of salt known as the mulon.

With its traditional, environmentally friendly harvesting method, Le Guérandais Guérande Salt has become the market leader for original salts.

Ground salt and flavoured salts

Fine salt (or ground salt) is made from coarse salt, which is dried, then crushed.
It is not processed, whitened or refined and retains the pleasure of an authentic salt. Rich in magnesium and trace elements, it is ideal for every type of use in the kitchen and on the table.

With Le Guérandais in all its forms (coarse salt, flower of salt, fine salt), gourmets have a whole range of flavours to choose from.

>> Salt

Coarse salt

This traditional sea salt is naturally grey and guaranteed unwashed, unrefined and additive-free.
Rich in magnesium and trace elements, Le Guérandais Coarse Guérande Salt offers flavours ideal for traditional family cooking. You can use it for cooking all your dishes (pasta, vegetables), meat and fish in a salt crust, stocks and barbecues

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Fine or ground salt

Le Guérandais fine Guérande salt is an unrefined product that is simply dried and crushed to retain the pleasure of an authentic salt.
Rich in magnesium and trace elements, it is ideal for every type of use in the kitchen and on the table.

Flower of salt

Le Guérandais Flower of Guérande Salt is harvested with great care by the Guérande salt workers from the surface of the crystallisation ponds, using skills and a method that are over a thousand years old. Flower of salt is naturally white, rare and of an outstanding quality.
Its crystals are left uncrushed and unwashed to retain their naturally high quantity of trace elements.
The incomparable flavour of Le Guérandais Flower of Guérande Salt is particularly popular with gourmets and chefs.

Flavoured salts : Fine Guérande Salt has also been developed in three delicate flavours:

With herbs: it develops all the scents of the bouquet of aromatic plants that are added to it. It is ideal for seasoning vinaigrettes, vegetables and barbecues.

With seaweed: with a subtle mix of three types of seaweed to give it a flavour of the sea, this salt will add delicate aromas to fish, shellfish, soups, sauces or even fish stocks.

With vegetables: added at the end of cooking or used as a seasoning, it will delicately flavour all your vegetables, cooked, in salads or served raw. This subtle mix goes particularly well with tomato juices, pasta, rice, soups and sauces.

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