This moist and fine gray salt is the essence of France, used by all the country’s finest chefs. It comes from Guerande, on the western coast of France, south of Brittany, which is home to carefully preserved wetlands where salt is naturally cultivated in marshes by the forces of sun, sea, and wind. This salt is hand harvested by artisan paludiers (craftsmen salt harvesters) using wooden rakes and ancestral, centuries-old techniques to sweep the evaporating sea water, and then the salt is drained and dried in the heat of the sun. You get pure, clean, potent unrefined salt, without any chemical treatment, preservatives, or additives. Tinted gray by the nutrients that reside in the clay lining the salt pond, this storied salt gives a seaside sensation emanating the nuances and flavor of the ocean.

These fine delicate crystals dissolve quickly making this a great choice for cooking. Toss it into stir-fries and pasta water to bring out the flavor of your meals, use it in baking sweet and savory treats, or as a table salt.

Fairway Marketplace is brought to you by Fairway Market, a specialty food chain that started back in 1933 with a small fruit and vegetable stand on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Today, Fairway Market is legendary for its experts and expertise in all things food, and a relentless obsession with quality throughout all of the different departments in its stores. In December of 2011, Fairway launched this online shop, so that we could bring the best of the best of what Fairway offers, at the same great values, to those who don’t live near one of our stores. Why keep all of this foodie goodness to ourselves? That simply would not be fair.