Le Saunier de Camargue

Le Saunier de Camargue is the brand name for the reknowned Camargue salt, which is harvested in the town of Aigues-mortes on the coast of Mediterranean sea, 

Salt has been harvested in Aigues-Mortes since Antiquity (4th century BC) where the area was developed into several small marches beloging to different owners for several centuries. But after serious flooding in 1842, they decided to form a partnership with a merchant in Montpellier, and founded in 1856 the group Salin d’Aigues-Mortes (Aigues-Mortes Salt Marsh) as it is known today.

Salt makers are perpetuating a tradition handed down from generation to generation by managing the movement of the water according to the wind, storms and salt level. The salt makers are the real guardians of the Aigues-Mortes salt marsh. They adapt to the climate, while running daily checks on the salt level in the crystallisation pans. The final result of this painstaking work, carried out all the year round, is the salt crystals caused by the rise in temperatures in summer.

Sea salt is created through the natural evaporation of sea water in salt marshes or salt flats by the sun and wind. The salt workers help circulate the sea water from March to August to increase its natural salt concentration, and when the salt concentration is high enough, it is directed towards the crystallizing ponds until the salt forms a very thick layers ath the bottom of the marsh.

This naturally white salt, specificity of Mediterranean salt, is harvested in September and can be sold as coarse or ground fine salt. Fleur de Sel, a different type of sea salt that forms on the surface of the water, is hand-harvested at dawn by the salt workers.