2003-06-12B
Watching Our Salt.

After the flower is gathered, the "gros sel" or gross salt is harvested.  This salt has just a touch of the clay from the basins, which gives is a slightly brownish color.  Any cook in these parts will tell you it's the only salt for cooking seafood to perfection.  The Romans thought so, too, and in order to build the greatest army in the world, they paid their soldiers a "salary" quite literally a "salt ration".  In addition to being a measure of currency, played for centuries a very important practical role.  Until the invention of modern refrigeration, salt was the only safe and effective means of preserving many foods, including fish.  Without the salt of the marshes, the fishermen of Les Sables and consumers of many other places would have had far more difficult lives.
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This page last updated on 6/12/2003 12:36:10 PM.