Kampot sea salt and fleur de sel

Cambodia produces almost all of its own salt, and nearly all of it comes from the flats you drive past between Kampot and Kep. Seawater is let in, moved from pan to pan as it concentrates, and left to the sun. Nothing is refined, nothing is added, which is why the grain is not perfectly even and the colour is not laboratory white.

Four things on this page. The everyday sea salt, coarse, for the mill and the mortar. The fleur de sel, skimmed by hand from the surface on the calmest mornings, brittle and crunchy, meant to go on a dish at the last second rather than into the pot. Then two aromatic blends built on that same salt: one for fish, rubbed into the skin before the grill, one for barbecue, coarse enough to survive charcoal.

Salt from the pans draws moisture and Cambodia is humid, so it cakes if you leave it open. That is the sign it has not been treated, not a defect. Available in our three shops.