Salmarim

Once, when the sun was almost at the horizon, the concierge at the hotel where a couple of visitors to Salmarim were staying called them worriedly: “Is everything all right? Aren’t you coming?”. Only then did it hit them. “Right! We have a table booked at the restaurant!”, said the guest to Jorge, who had been walking around the salt flats with them for hours, collecting the precious crystals, testing them gastronomically, tasting some wine…  “Quick! Give us some salt to take to the hotel chef!”. That was the balance of the day: maximum flavor, schedules forgotten, but time valued. Jorge really likes to emphasize this, and it makes perfect sense.

Jorge doesn’t wear a watch. The day begins when the sun rises, and shortly afterwards he is already barefoot in the salt pans. It has been like this since 2007, when he and his wife, Sandra, took over her father’s traditional business and transformed it into one of the most renowned producers of its kind, in demand by chefs and food lovers from all over the world. The location is perfect: it’s in the Marsh Nature Reserve of Castro Marim, on the eastern edge of the Algarve, right on the border with Spain. Here, the salt flower is harvested by hand and as mentioned, schedules don’t matter.

“Time: that’s what we must give our visitors first and foremost. Guests aren’t ‘packed in’ here. It’s their moment. If they arrive with a driver and ask what time they’ll be picked up, my answer is always ‘I don’t know.’”

But what natural treasure is this?

Salt flower is a lighter and more delicate version of salt. It is the layer of fragile crystals that forms on the surface of the water during the evaporation process. “At a time in which all production methods, the addition of chemicals, and the sustainability of techniques are being questioned,” explain the specialists at Salmarim, “the purity of our waters must be taken into account. Castro Marim has one of the most unpolluted estuaries in Europe.”

“Because it is produced by evaporation, it contains a variety of nutrients and minerals — including iron, zinc, magnesium, iodine, calcium, and potassium — far superior to other types of salt, as well as a lower level of sodium chloride.”

Top chefs can’t resist it: “It has an irresistible crunch, accompanied by a smooth melt that brings out the flavors of food.”

“First, we get our feet wet!” And immediately afterwards, you start harvesting the salt. Children love it and it doesn’t take long for adults to be seduced too. No two days are the same and each experience is different – because curiosity and taste vary.

In any case, Jorge declares: “Whether the guests want to or not, they’re going to be salt workers!” And what’s more, after the harvest, they can go and see if the shrimp nets near the salt flats’ sluice gates are full. If so, wonderful, because what follows will be even better.

“Then we move on to a gastronomic test. The guests are ‘dry’ and we slowly feed their souls, trying to make them understand what is good or bad in the use of salt. They cut open a tomato, prepare the shrimp, the sardines… At this point, it’s their story, their moment.”

Time, as mentioned, slips away. Salmarim is a paradise of taste, colors, relaxation, originality. It is an impressive palette. And that’s no wonder.

You know why? Because, before devoting himself to salt, Jorge was an art historian.

Go and meet him!