The Salt Museum, preserving local knowledge
The Salt Museum, preserving local knowledge
700 m - Salies-de-Béarn
Culture and Heritage
- English
Emblematic of Béarnese gastronomy, Salies-de-Béarn Salt has always been produced in the heart of the salt town of Salies-de-Béarn. This 100% natural product originates from the salt water springs discovered in the Bronze Age in Salies-de-Béarn and its surrounding area.
According to an ancestral process, it is produced by heating and evaporating in the open air underground salt spring water collected in Oraas, a few kilometers from the saltworks. The coarse salt thus formed in basins (called salt pans) is then harvested and stored before being packaged and then marketed.
The surface of the salt pans is the scene of the formation of Fleur de Sel. Under the effect of the sun and the wind, the salt water crystallizes in the form of light petals floating on the surface. Of an incomparable whiteness and lightness, fleur de sel is prized by gastronomes.
Produced in turn by family, artisanal and then industrial methods, this flagship product of Béarn has survived through the ages. It is still, today, inseparable from the salted meats of the South-West, since it is notably the only salt intended for the salting of Bayonne Hams, under Protected Geographical Indication.
Protected for thousands of years in the Béarn subsoil, the salt of Salies-de-Béarn is the marker of a territory and a cultural and gastronomic heritage.
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