The Sea of Cortez and its bounty

This is a photo I took a while back at the salt ponds where Sal del Mar is harvested. The coastline is pristine and characterized by 300 estuaries and other wetlands that are key components to the rich community of plant and animal life comprising a unique ecosystem. And not far away is this beach restaurant where I took a picture of the owner and "Chef" Alejandro as he shows off the catch of the day.

Alejandro served us this platter of butterflied shrimp and white fish. It was so fresh and needed only a squirt of lime and of course a pinch or two of Sal del Mar. Alejandro tells all his customers, "I won't use any other salt".

Salting the glass perfectly every time

When it come to your favorite margarita, you may be salt-shy due to heavy salting in your past experiences. Yet, when the salting is done correctly, it enhances the flavor of the tequila and integrates the flavors. I prefer to salt-encrust just half of the rim so that guests can sip from the salt side or not as they drink their margarita. Here is a simple method to be sure your glass is salted perfectly every time: 1. Spread Sal del Margarita* evenly on a small plate 2. Moisten the rim of your glass -- just the top edge -- by running a lime slice around the rim delivering a light coating of lime juice 3. Press the rim of the glass into the salt to crust the rim 4. Tap off the excess 5. Allow the salt to air-dry before filling the glass -- this ensures that the salt lightly flakes off with each sip

Other tips:

  • Use a martini glass instead of the bowl-sized glasses served in some bars that are so big that they require a straw to drink the margarita because they are too heavy to lift. I call margaritas made this way the “new martini.”

  • Use a cocktail shaker and mix small amounts of margaritas.  The shaken method of making a margarita gives it a purer taste over the taste of  sweet slushy margaritas. Shake for about 10 seconds to melt the ice into the drink. Strain into your glass.

  • Ingredients matter. Margaritas are best made with 100% pure agave blanco tequila; fresh-squeezed lime juice and the orange sweetness of Cointreau. There is a growing trend of using boutique aged tequilas.

  • Experiment with adding other flavors to the salt. For a mango margarita, I finely chop mint leaves and mix it in the Sal de Margarita.

*Use Sal del Margarita and let the crisp, salty taste complement the lime and the tequila ingredients while delivering a light crunch as you sip from the glass. Notice how Sal de Margarita quickly dissolves on the palate? Be sure to see my blog archive “marvelous margaritas” for more ideas.

Aquarium of the world gives us salt

The Sea of Cortez is located between the Baja Peninsula and mainland Mexico and is one of the youngest and most fertile seas on earth. The peninsula was formed approximately five million years ago when part of the Earth’s crust separated along the San Andreas Fault drifting in a northwesterly direction away from mainland Mexico. After colliding with southern California, an ocean basin was formed. This basin is known today as the Gulf of California or more commonly referred to as the Sea of Cortez. It is home to thousands of species of marine animals and is the reason why Jacques Cousteau called this sea “The Aquarium of the World.”
Much of the area around the basins is covered by whitish grey salt flats where Sal del Mar is harvested.

Dishing it out

Sal del Mar is a pure unprocessed sea salt that is ideal for all around cooking. It is a coarse, moist salt that is intrinsically beautiful, especially delicious and exotic as well.

You will see that Sal del Mar is not white-white or dry.  It has a shade of grey and feels a bit damp. But if it were white-white and dry, it wouldn't be natural since most table salts that appear really white have been stripped of their natural minerals.

AND...don’t try putting our salt in a salt shaker!  Just pinch with your fingers and drop into the food.

Just knowing about Sal del Mar makes you want to....well, maybe not eat, pray, love, but it will make you want to travel, cook and eat.

Traditional salt harvesting

I discovered how truly miraculous salt making is after visiting the site on the Sea of Cortez where Sal del Mar is harvested.  The process is still based on ancestral methods using controlled salt ponds.  The Sea of Cortez is allowed to flood flat, shallow beds and then a dam is used to trap the water.

The traditional method used allows the water to naturally evaporate as it is dried by the sun, leaving a layer of sea salt. The salt crystals are raked by hand, instead of using big bulldozers like some companies do. The result is a quality product that is handmade and traditional in a world that is increasingly losing the artisan approach.

The pristine coast of the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) where Sal del Mar is harvested is characterized by 300 estuaries and other wetlands. The rich community of plant and animal life in these wetlands comprises a unique ecosystem that are key components to the Gulf.