Maldon Sea Salt facts for kids
Maldon Salt is a company that makes special sea salt in Maldon, a town in Essex, England. This area is perfect for making salt because it's next to the River Blackwater, which has very salty water and flat, sunny marshes.
The Story of Maldon Salt
People have been making sea salt in Maldon for a very long time, even since the Romans were in Britain! They built special clay ponds to collect seawater and let the sun dry it out. A very old book called the Domesday Book from 1086 mentions that 45 lead pans were used to make salt there.
The Maldon Salt Company, as we know it today, started in 1882. Before that, it was part of a local company that sold coal. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Maldon Salt became super popular. This happened after famous chefs like Ruth Rogers, Delia Smith, and Jamie Oliver started using it in their cooking.
How Maldon Salt is Made
Maldon Sea Salt is made by evaporating very salty water, called brine. This happens over a big network of modern gas-fired heaters. Long ago, they used wood stoves or big ovens to dry the salt crystals.
The company is known for its unique, inverted pyramid-shaped salt crystals. These special shapes help stop the salt from clumping together. When these crystals break down, they form delicate flakes. These flakes are often used as a "finishing salt." This means you sprinkle them on food right before you eat it to add extra flavor and crunch.
Maldon Salt also says that their salt has less magnesium than other salts. This means it has less of a bitter taste. Salt made from evaporating seawater usually has more magnesium than regular table salt.
