The Sea Salt
Saline in Trapani - Photo © Luciana Coletti -*Elle*
In ancient times, salt was collected from pools of sea water after the water had evaporated in the sun. This technique is still in use today in Italy’s marine salt production. A series of linked salt-water basins, enormous but shallow, are naturally filled with sea water, which quickly evaporates in the Mediterranean sun, leaving pure marine salt.
There are about 20 such marine salt basins in Italy, but only four of them are functioning using this ancient technique: Sant’Antioco in southwestern Sardinia, Trapani in western Sicily, Santa Margherita di Savoia in Apulia, and Cervia in Romagna. There was a time, however, when every important maritime city had its own sea salt basin: from Syracuse to Trieste, from Ostia to Venice. The Canal Grande is all that remains of the city’s old salt basins, covered in 1732.
Most salt basins were abandoned because it is cheaper to mine salt industrially. However, the four basins that are still in use survived thanks to the exceptional organoleptic qualities of their salt. Salts produced in those basins are not used just as plain salt but for their special flavor, which can turn a good common dish into an extraordinary gourmet experience.
Ravida sea salt is used as a cooking and
table salt to enhance the most delicate of foods. This sea salt
is harvested from the blue Mediterranean waters along the
western coast of Sicily. Naturally produced from the salt pans
by evaporation and ground without washing or further refining.
The Ravida family produces this sea salt from the low waters of
the Mediterranean along the western coast of Sicily. It is a
natural untreated salt, made to traditional methods, rich in
minerals such as iodine, fluorine, magnesium and potassium, all
of which make it an ideal table salt. The shallow waters of this
lagoon, with their high mineral content, combined with the sun
and wind, produce this quality sea salt. The saltpans are filled
with seawater in the spring and left to evaporate under the
intense heat of the Sicilian sun and strong African winds.
Harvesting takes place once the water has evaporated. The salt
is piled firstly into small heaps inside the saltpans and then
into larger piles along the edges where they are protected from
the rain with clay tiles. It is then simply crushed and ground
without further refining. The combination of different minerals
and the naturally low percentage of sodium chloride in Ravida
sea salt give it a delicate taste and plenty of flavor without
being too strong or salty.
Unrefined sea salt produced by the Ravida family since 1700
along the southwestern shore of Sicily. This sea salt is
generally meant for use in cooking, as opposed to liberal
sprinkling at the tabletop, although to each his own, of
course... It is extracted from Sicilian sea waters via
traditional evaporation methods and is naturally high in
magnesium.
In USA you can buy the Ravida Sicilian Sea Salt - 17.85 oz. Container at a Price: $12.00
© 1997-2010 Enrico Massetti
TangoItalia - Food, Wine, Travel, and... tango in Italy.