Ile de Ré salt | Destination Île de Ré

100% natural salt

In the north of the island, between La Couarde, Loix and Ars en Ré, the salt marshes stretch as far as the eye can see. In this peaceful environment shaped by man and nature, salt growers have been cultivating and harvesting sea salt, the “white gold”, for over a thousand years.

Long indispensable for preserving food, salt was the subject of a flourishing trade in the Middle Ages with Nordic countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany and Scandinavia. Ideally situated at the crossroads of maritime routes, it was the monks of the Abbey of Saint-Michel-en-l’Herm who began to exploit the salt marshes on the islets of Loix and Ars, making the most of their clay lands on the Ile de Ré and turning it into one of the most important production sites in western France.

During the heyday of the salt industry in the XIXᵉ century, almost 20% of the island’s territory was exploited, producing nearly 30,000 tons per year. However, the railroad and the Industrial Revolution dealt a heavy blow to the salt business on the Île de Ré. Salt producers abandoned their salt marshes in the face of collapsing salt prices and difficult economic conditions. The activity declined, but was revived in the early 1990s.

Fear of the disappearance of this ancestral heritage and know-how encouraged the Communauté de Commune de l’Ile de Ré and the Coopérative des Sauniers de l’Ile de Ré, founded in 1942, to launch a program to rehabilitate the salt marshes and promote the exceptional quality of the salt produced on the Ile de Ré. Young salt-makers set up shop and reclaim the clay soils, preserving over a thousand years of history.

These young sauniers benefit from the know-how of their predecessors, and the skills that have been handed down from generation to generation. They are motivated by a working environment in the fresh air, in contact with nature, an exceptionally well-preserved environment, the prospect of producing high-quality salt and a clear understanding of the elements that surround them, such as the wind, the tides and the sun.

True farmers of the sea, they are the guardians of this local heritage, preserving these maritime lands and their priceless biodiversity of flora and fauna. You’ll discover the flora associated with this very special environment, such as the salicorne, a plant adapted to high salinity levels and cultivated for gastronomic purposes on the Ile de Ré.

picksel-grossel-simoussi-maraissalant-salt-fleurdesel-cueilllette-lousse-nature-iledere-artiasnal-lacouarde

Today, over 400 hectares are cultivated by 90 sauniers on the Ile de Ré.

Pyramide De Sel Marais Salant Francois Blanchard

Sel Et Marais Salant Ile De Re Francois Blanchard

During the summer season (between June and September), you can watch them at work in their marshes, harvesting salt crystals by hand: coarse grey salt and fleur de sel.

Seawater circulates in clay basins of different sizes, where the natural process of evaporation takes place thanks to the sun and wind. Coarse gray salt settles to the bottom of the marshes, naturally retaining the color of the gray clay that lines the marshes. Around 2,000 tonnes of coarse salt are harvested each year. As in the past, the salt-maker uses a kind of wide rake, a simoussi, to make small pyramids, the coubes, which let the water drain off before being transported to a larger pile of salt, the pilot.

To harvest fleur de sel, you need sunshine, a good wind, a total absence of rain and a zest of more or less predictable parameters that give it its charm and mystery. Every day, at the end of the day, a fine crystallization appears on the surface of the water, on the edges of the eyelet, to form a light crust, comparable to emerging ice on a pond. The saunier carefully removes it with a “lousse”, taking care not to make an imprecise gesture that would sink and soil the precious harvest.

Fleur de sel de l’Ile de Ré is considered one of the finest and tastiest salts in the world. The subtlety of its flavor is due to the fact that it’s not just salt… it naturally contains magnesium and trace elements.

Fleur de sel is a 100% natural product, unprocessed and additive-free. It dirties less than simple table salt, and less quickly. But so much better! It is sometimes incorporated into fine recipes, but more often than not, it is added at the last moment to a food or a dish, which it will help to reveal as it distills its aromas.

A must-have for fine dining and gastronomy, for its perfect finishing touch, subtle taste and inimitable crunch. A gustatory pleasure like no other. A few grains of fleur de sel are all it takes to create the most intense taste sensations.

To find out all you need to know about salt production on the Ile de Ré, take a trip to the Ecomusée des Marais Salants in Loix, which invites you to relive centuries of salt harvesting.

Inside, you’ll discover the traditions and history of salt cultivation, and an open-air walking trail around the marshes allows you to understand all the phases of production, from pumping seawater in March to harvesting the salt at the end of summer.

Sel Marche Les Portes Ile De Re Jules Locksmith

Salt production is highly dependent on climatic conditions: a storm with heavy rainfall can damage the harvest, as not only does excess freshwater affect the degree of salinity, but it can also damage the dikes separating the various basins.

Outside the summer months, sauniers devote part of their time to restoring the marshes: cleaning, levelling the bottom of the basins, creating nesting islands, maintaining the flora. For many of them, another part of their time is also devoted to a complementary activity in market gardening or vine-growing.

The sauniers on the Ile de Ré are key players in safeguarding the natural environment. They help to preserve the rich biodiversity, flora and fauna of this living environment shaped by man; they maintain the basins and clay levees, and take daily care to adjust water levels.

Salt production on the Ile de Ré is firmly in line with the current “Slow Food” trend in the culinary world, as it is a 100% natural, authentic and unrefined product.

Fleur de sel au Cognac, Fleur de Sel au Safran, Fleur de Sel au Pineau, Fleur de Sel au Caviar, Fleur de Sel aux Truffes, Fleur de Sel au Basilic, Fleur de Sel au Cèleri bio, Fleur de Sel au gingembre bio, Sel Marin pour grillades, Sel marin p’tit potager, Moutarde d’algues, Moutarde et mayonnaise à la Salicorne, there’s something for everyone!

For over a thousand years, untreated, unwashed artisanal salt from the Ile de Ré has been harvested by hand from the salt marshes of Ars en Ré and Loix. Fleur de sel de l’île de Ré is considered one of the finest and tastiest salts in the world.

It’s a must-have for fine dining and gastronomy, for its perfect and exclusive finishing touch to dishes, for its subtle taste and inimitable crunch. Rich in magnesium, it provides our body with many essential minerals.

The sauniers of Ile de Ré

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