How Is Celtic Sea Salt Harvested?
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Preparing to Harvest
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Off the coasts of France and Portugal, in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Celtic sea salt is prepared for harvest on literal salt farms by traditional salt farmers, called paludiers. The salt farm plots, right up against the coastline in sea marsh land, are vast--called a salt pan. Right at sea level, these plots are mostly covered in salty sea water, while protected from the ocean itself via a dike system. During high tide, sea water is allowed through the dike and into the plots. Once the dike has been closed again, evaporation occurs, leaving behind pristine sea salt.
Raking
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Celtic sea salt is then raked. This refers to the traditional use of wooden rakes to sift the Celtic sea salt and divide it into piles. The use of the wooden rake (really just a long wooden pole with a wooden board attached to the end) is one of the key distinguishing characteristics of the Celtic sea salt harvesting method--and it dates back many centuries. Even today, Celtic sea salt never comes into contact with metal during the entire harvesting process; it is raked and divided and gathered into piles near the side of the plot using only wood. The paludiers take care during this step in the process not to step into the salt plot itself for fear of muddying or otherwise dirtying the pure salt; instead, they walk along narrow clay walls, just a few inches tall, that border the plots. This is one reason the rakes have such long handles.
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Completing the Harvest
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Once the Celtic sea salt has been gathered into piles near the sides of the plot using the wooden rake, some of it can be harvested. Only the top layer of salt is actually harvested. The top layer--pure salt crystals--is almost completely devoid of any sand or other impurities found in greater abundance as the layers go deeper (and salt becomes brine). The top layer of salt, packed with minerals and very moist, is thus scraped off using the wooden rakes into piles, then packaged and distributed to stores and kitchens worldwide.
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