Many consider fleur de sel, which means “flower of salt” in French, the finest type of sea salt available. Its price reflects its high quality, as it costs about 10 times more than your average sea salt and 100 times more than table salt.

The delicacy with which it is hand-harvested accounts for much of the expense. Fleur de sel floats on the surface of shallow salt water marshes and is scraped off with a special rake called a lousse à de fleur. The raking must be done carefully by hand to prevent mixing the fleur de sel with the coarse gray salt beneath it.

France harvests most of the world’s fleur de sel, with the town of Guérande possibly being the most famous producer. Spain and Portugal also harvest variants of fleur de sel.

Fleur de sel has a higher mineral content than table salt, a natural grayish hue, a moist texture and a violet-like fragrance. Sprinkle it on food before serving to enliven flavors.