Gourmet salts, including unrefined sea salts and mineral-rich rock salts, are gaining exponential popularity because of the better taste and texture than with typical table salt and the perceived health benefits. While traditional table salt contains chemicals to whiten and keep the crystals from clumping, all Leila Bay Trading Company’s salts are free of bleaching and anti-caking agents to provide the most natural sea salt possible. The uniquely different chemical composition from trace minerals, which is based from where the salt comes is what gives gourmet salts their fingerprint of a color, taste, and saltiness.

Sea salts have gained gourmet status as they have joined other seasonings as home chefs have learned the benefits of using these unique salts. Sea salt is a general term to identify an unrefined salt from a living ocean or sea. Water is then channeled into clay-lined salt flats for the wind and sun to evaporate the water naturally. Most sea salts are not refined as much as traditional table salts so they still contain natural trace minerals including iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, manganese, zinc and iodine. Gourmet chefs using sea salt rave about its bright, pure, clean flavor, and about the subtleties lent to it by these other trace minerals.

French Salts

Fleur de Sel

Fleur De Sel de Guérande, translates to the "Flower of Salt" and is accepted as the finest of the sea salts due to its harvesting methods and the accompanying taste and texture from those methods. The salt is harvested by barely skimming the surface of the crystals that form on the very top layer of the salt ponds. Authentic Fleur de Sel only originates from Guérande, as champagne only comes from the champagne region in France. The young crystal has a delicate flavor, a moist texture, and a rich, sweet flavor that melts as it touches the tongue. Not only is this among the best tasting salts, it also has the highest mineral content and is naturally low in sodium making it delicious and healthy. Given that Fleur de Sel by Leila Bay Trading Company is both from the Guérande and is certified Organic by Nature & Progres, this is truly the best of the best finishing salts. Fleur de Sel is best used with steamed or grilled veggies, salads and roasted or baked meats.

Sel Gris

Sel Gris, or Grey Salt is a "moist" unrefined sea salt formed in the same salt pans as Fleur de Sel. When the salt that forms on the top layers of the water sinks to the bottom of the salt pan, it interacts with the natural clay base. This light grey color comes directly from the natural clay found in the salt flatss. The salt is collected by hand using traditional Celtic methods. The Celtic method of harvesting sea salt refers to hand harvesting the sea salt using wooden rakes allowing no metal to touch the salt. Grey Salt has gained great fame in the mainstream culinary world in the last few years and is considered by many to be the best quality salt available as it is related to Fleur de Sel, but is much more widely available. It is available in coarse and stone ground fine.

Exotic Salts

Not all gourmet finishing salts are sea salts. Some salts are mined from salt deposits left from prehistoric oceans and seas. Although these salts are classified as mineral salts, they have the same unrefined characteristics as sea salts with their abundance of trace minerals. These salts do not go through the same refining process as traditional table salt. These exotic salts typically are mined from ancient mountain ranges, such as the Himalyan or Andes Mountans, or from aquifers deep withing the Earth, such as the Murray River in Australia.

Exotic sea salts are traditional salts from around the globe. These salts are harvested in the same tradition which have been used for hundreds of years. Alaea, for example from Hawaii has been used to prepare pork and seafood by the indegineous peoples of Hawaii, and the red clay - unique to Hawaii - is passed onto the salt giving the salt it’s recognizable red color.

Every salt has a story. It is time to recapture the taste of gourmet salts.

Alaea

Alaea sea salt is a traditional Hawaiian salt. After drying a natural red clay called "Alaea" is added to enrich the salt with iron oxide. This naturally red clay additive is what gives the salt its recognizable color. The clay imparts a mellower flavor than regular sea salt. It is the traditional and authentic seasoning for native Hawaiian dishes such as Kalua Pig, Poke and Hawaiian Jerky, but is also good on prime rib and pork loin.

Nanahu o Kai

Nanahu o Kai, or Black Lava sea salt is a traditional Hawaiian salt which has a dark black color with a slick texture. Solar evaporated sea salt is combined with activated charcoal. This compliments the natural salt flavor and adds numerous health benefits to the salt.

Murray River

Murray River salt crystals are light & delicate peach colored flakes. They have a wonderfully mild flavor. The texture is ideal for use as a finishing salt. The crystals melt quickly and evenly making Murray River flake salt ideal for finishing, roasting, and baking.

The Murray River is the greatest of Australia’s rivers. The source of its water is the snowy Australian Alps. Salt is a natural feature in many Australian landscapes. The Murray-Darling Basin’s low rainfall and high evaporation have combined to concentrate salt in the groundwater. This salt is produced naturally from the underground brines in the Murray Darling Basin. A red pigment, carotene, is secreted from the salt tolerant algae. The underground saline waters have been laying dormant for thousands of years. By utilizing these waters the environment is improved and a beautiful salt is produced.

Himalayan

Himalayan Pink gourmet salt is pure, hand-mined salt found naturally deep inside the pristine Himalayan Mountains. The high mineral Himalayan salt crystals range in color from sheer white to varying shades of pink to deep reds which indicates a beneficial amount of 84 trace elements & iron. The clean crystals are Gourmet Food Grade and the highest quality Himalayan salt available.

This 250 million year old, Jurassic era sea salt is known for its healing properties and is used by health professionals, spas and individuals who are interested in utilizing natural products to heal the body and relax the mind. For centuries, Himalayan salt has been used as folk remedies for a variety of health issues. Stimulating circulation, lowering blood pressure and removing toxins such as heavy metals from the body are just a few of the many benefits of Himalayan salt.

Gourmet Smoked Sea Salt

Smoked Sea Salts are a relatively new gourmet salt. These salts are naturally smoked over real wood fires infusing the smoke flavors onto the salt crystals unlike artifcially infused smoked flavors. This unique gourmet taste adds flavor to a multitude of dishes including grilled or baked meats, salads and sandwiches. Adds a sweet smokehouse taste to soups, salads, pastas and sandwiches. Gourmet smoked salts are a must when cooking salmon and white fish.

Our gourmet smoked salts come in three distinctive flavors to recreate the authentic smoking of the various parts of the country:

Smokehouse - A rich, alder smoked sea salt. Red alder, used traditionally used in the Northwestern United States for smoking salmon and other meats, this salt recreates some of the best tastes when used on fish and meat.
Amarillo - A strong, hickory smoked sea salt. Hickory, used primarily in the south-southwestern United States this salt adds a good smokey flavor to steaks and ribs on the grill.
Applewood - A subtle, apple wood smoked sea salt. Apple Wood, used across the United States for its sweet tasting smokey flavor add a subtle smokey flavor on or off the grill.

Traditional White Sea Salts

Marazul

Marazul coarse traditional sea salt comes from the pristine blue waters off the coast of Brazil. Traditional Sea Salt is best used for flavoring foods at the table when the host determines that a finer, higher grade finishing salt is not required. Grinder salts are typically large dry crystals suitable to a salt mill or grinder. The white salt crystals are easy to grind in the mills and the lower moisture content allows the salt to flow through with little hassle. Always use a salt mill with a ceramic or plastic grinding mechanism. Metal, including stainless steel, will corrode and adversely flavor the salt.

Pyramis

Pyramis kosher flake salt is regular salt that is so named for its use in the preparation of meat according to the requirements of Jewish dietary guidelines. It contains fewer additives, and has a more salty taste than ordinary table salt. It generally comes in flakes rather than granules. The flakes dissolve easily, and have a less pungent flavor than table salt. Due to the shape of the granules, there is simply less salt in a pinch of kosher salt than in a pinch of table salt. This is the kind of salt most often used on top of pretzels and on the rims of margarita glasses. It is important to note that all Kosher salt is not necessarily sea salt. Kosher salt comes in fine and coarse grain.