A friend brought us this little pot of sea salt as a souvenir from her travels in France. It's been sitting in our cupboard staring at us every time we open the door, tempting us and begging to be used. How should we use our fleur de sel?
Ingredient Spotlight: Fleur de Sel
Fleur de sel is like the extra-virgin olive oil of the salt world. It's the first, most fragile salt crystals that form at the top of the sea water as it evaporates. The grains are flaky and can range in color from grey to pink due to the natural minerals in the water. Those in the know claim that fleur de sel also has a particularly nuanced and delicate flavor that sets it above regular sea salt that comes from fully-evaporated sea water.
Fleur de sel makes a great finishing salt - in fact it's too expensive and rare to use for much else! We've been adding a few pinches to our dinner salads, and we like the subtle crunch and sharp spikes of saltiness it adds. We also really enjoy it simply sprinkled over fresh bread dipped in olive oil! We're thinking of trying it next with fresh summer melon and yogurt lassis.
Fleur de sel is also the salt of choice for bakers and candy makers. They it use for making salted caramels, chocolates, and other surprising confections. We'll have to be sure to save some for our holiday baking!
What else would you recommend doing with fleur de sel?
Related: Simple Pleasures: Radishes with Butter and Sea Salt
(Images: Emma Christensen for the Kitchn)
Comments (11)
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One of my favorite breakfasts is a hearty piece of toast spread with avocado and sliced tomatoes and a little sprinkle of fleur de sel. I think it's a great idea, though, to save it for holiday baking.
view sjbreeze's profile
Sprinkled on top of the Chocolate Caramel Tart, from Marlow and Sons in Brooklyn. Perfection.
http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Chocolate-Caramel-Tart
view katiewalker's profile
hello,
the fleur de sel of Camargue tastes so good, it's completly different from de basic salt.
I buy it on straightfromfrance.com, very cheap and a lot of choice of french products
view straight from france's profile
Caramels!
Ina Garten has a recipe and they look so delightful.
view arbequina's profile
I bought fleur de sel and used it on a batch of Ina's caramels this past holiday season:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/fleur-de-sel-caramels-recipe/index.html
Highly recommended! My only advice is:
1. Use a candy thermometer!
2. Use 1-1/2 c sugar. The recipe as-is on the site is incorrect.
view Supergaijin's profile
Toasts with Chocolate and Fleur de Sel from Amanda Hesser! (page 213 in the book Cooking For Mr. Latte)
view LauraEvrard 's profile
Spread good butter on radishes and dip them in salt, a la francaise. Simple. Delish.
view lemontart's profile
on scrambled eggs (or any style eggs, for that matter)!
view civita's profile
Fleur de Sel is good on anything. Love the crunch.
view littlecat's profile
Crispy. Salted. Oatmeal. White Chocolate Chips!
http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/05/crispy-salted-oatmeal-white-chocolate-cookies/
view crasht1224's profile
I use it for most everything, finishing dishes, baking, on roasts, for hamburgers, whatever. It can be ground to create a finer salt. It creates a subtlety in dishes that leaves guests wondering why your dishes are always better then thier own.
I never use table salt and only use Kosher salt for pasta water.
view rmarcus's profile