Sea salt from Aguni island with Sansho from Bhutan - Short date

Sea salt from Aguni island with Sansho from Bhutan

Sea water contains about 90 different minerals. More than 60 of these are found in the sea salt of Aguni Island or "Aguni-no Shio". Aguni-no Shio is not mass produced salt, made in a big factory.
It is a craft product, hand made in a small workshop. As a result, the skills of artisans who produce this hand-made salt are essential.
The salt workshop Aguni-no Shio is located on Aguni Island, surrounded by clear water under the subtropical sun of Okinawa.
The sea water is pumped into a tower 10 meters high. More than 15000 bamboos with thousands of branches hang from the tower and the sea water flows through this bamboo.
The wind of the sea helps evaporate the seawater to produce condensed salt water.
This process is repeated for one week to obtain a concentrate of seawater six times more condensed than normal seawater.
Then, the resulting solution is placed in a flat pot called "hiragama" and is then reduced to a wood fire for about two days. The craftsman keeps stirring the mixture to prevent it from burning. Nigari or natural magnesium chloride is extracted within the next four to five days. The final process is to pass the salt crystals through a sieve for two days for ripening.

This remarkable salt goes wonderfully with the wild black sansho of Bhutan.
The black sansho grows in central and eastern parts of the country, in humid areas, at altitudes between 1,200 and 1,600 meters.
This sansho, belonging to the citrus family, Rutaceae, is used to flavor rice porridge served on special occasions and when monks hold ceremonies in private homes. It is also used when cooking meat dishes, especially offal, due to its fresh and dominant aromas.
Black sansho is not used in daily meals like Sichuan pepper because it does not grow everywhere.
In the past, the villagers treasured this spice as it was used as a currency for rice from other villages.
This sansho is rare because the tree does not bear fruit every year. Nature, the earth, the seasons and bad weather dominate its development.
In the event of a bad rainy season, the yield is lower; in light thunderstorms during flowering, the yield is catastrophic. Trees grow in rural areas, far from human habitation, in the middle of the jungle. The lush vegetation makes its location very complicated.

On the nose and on the palate, the black sansho is fresh, floral, with notes of verbena, grapefruit peel and green clementine, passionflower, fresh ginger with a few touches of mint and green lime.

Our perfect pairings : Aguni Island salt, unlike other salts, perfectly absorbs the essential oils of black sansho and restores aromas and flavors.
This salt will enhance abalone, scallops, langoustines, roast poultry, smoked salmon, grilled red meats (tab, shank, ribs), grilled red game meats.
On the sweet side, chocolate becomes obvious, not to mention caramel and rich whipped creams, melon, mangoes.