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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Marisol® Sea Salt Products Highly Recommended by Whom You Know We are Thrilled to Present Our First Review from Portugal! Marisol natural sea salts from Portugal debuted at the Fancy Food Show

Though Whom You Know is read in about 50 countries daily, we have not come close to reviewing products from 50 countries.  This is our first review from Portugal, and we are entirely thrilled with the quality of Marisol and Andrea Siebert.  If all brands from Portugal are this amazing we want to hear more!  The Peachy's Pantry panel comments:
Salt is an ingredient found in almost everything that we eat. Because it is an element that is so ubiquitous in our food, it is so important to settle for nothing but the best. I have recently been convinced that the best comes from Portugal, at least when it comes to salt! Marisol Flor de Sal Sea Salt is skimmed by hand in the traditional saltpans of the Ria Formosa in Portugal. It has a powerful taste that is sure to enhance the flavor of anything you add it to. The company also offers a beautiful Flos Salis Medium Crock of glazed ceramic that you can use to store and serve your salt. And true lovers of the Mediterranean will want to purchase the Oleum Olive Oil Dip Plate as well. This simple and elegant plate does more than just hold olive oil. The ridges in the plate can be used to grate garlic, so that your olive oil has even more delicious flavor! I could eat fresh bread dipped in olive oil, with a sprinkling of Marisol Sea Salt all day long!
I LOVE salt, so thankfully I’m one of those people whose blood pressure barely registers on the meter, so I can enjoy it to my heart’s content. Marisol Flor de Sal is fantastic! I recently used some cooking up some tilapia. I just brushed on some olive oil, minced garlic and a few pinches of Marisol Flor de Sal, put it in a pan for a few minutes and the result was a delicious, simple and quick meal. Sea salt is perfect for preparing any meat – enhancing without overpowering the flavor. In this case, it highlighted the flavor of the fish, allowing its light, fresh flavor to come through. I also recently mixed some into melted butter to pour over my popcorn… savory delight! Their accompanying products are pure, simple perfection as well, especially Flos Salis stoneware crock and the OLEUM Olive Oil Dip Plate. They are simple and elegant for your table or kitchen. The stoneware crock preserves the sea salt, keeping moisture out. You can leave some salt out on its lid from which to grab a pinch whenever needed in the kitchen. The olive oil dip plate is the perfect size for dipping breads into fresh olive oil. Mix some Flor de Sal into your olive oil and some pepper or garlic to your taste!
It would seem safe to assume that all sea salts are created equal, correct? Well, we all know what assuming does! I was reminded of this once again when I sampled Marisol Sea Salt. Hand-harvested from the protected nature reserves of the Ria Formosa and Sapal do Castro Marim in southern Portugal, Marisol sea salts are gathered by skilled artisans, dried naturally by the sun and wind, and then carefully packaged. The sea salt is 100% natural; no additives are added, and there is no artificial treatment. The result? Unparalleled quality and taste. I had the pleasure of sampling both the Flor de Sal and the Flos Salis, both of which were far and away superior to any sea salt I'd tasted before. The Flor de Sal is, according to Marisol's website, the "cream of the crop, the flower of sea salt crystallizes at the water's surface, producing delicate flakes that melt on the tongue," and the Flos Salis is the premium selection of the flower of sea salt. The Flor de Sal comes in a resealable bag, and the Flos Salis comes in a lovely stoneware crock. The sea salts arrived with a stoneware olive oil dip plate, also from Marisol, so I quickly got to work creating a dip of premium olive oil, aged balsamic vinegar, pepper, and the Flos Salis, and enjoyed that with slices from a nice, crusty baguette. Although I used just two pinches of the Flos Salis, the dip was bursting with flavor from it. I'm looking forward to using both the Flos Salis and the Flor de Sal in my cooking and baking - they will definitely kick the flavor of any dish up a notch or ten! Highly recommended.
Flos Salis should be used for seasoning and finishing everything from popcorn to the finest sauce. It's a special salt, with a distinct flavor, from protected nature reserves in Southern Portugal. Marisol was co-founded by Andrea Siebert, a biologist, and Nico Boer, and today is still a contained enterprise. They created a unique company that uses centuries old technique, bonded with modern technology. With artisanal salt works and a direct product chain, Marisol brings you innovative hand harvesting. Read their website as it provides a delicious wealth of information about this most basic and beloved necessity of the cuisine world. The glazed ceramic container gives a delightful table presence with it's serving lid, and garlic grater dish. For Olive oil tastings, the square handmade ceramic dish adds a touch of the practical in it's beauty. Any hostess worth their salt would welcome this as a gift. And every kitchen should have one, with the refill bag of Flor de Sal. It's not just in the presentation, but also in the flavor.


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Marisol®, the natural sea salt company from Portugal, exhibited its superior quality sea salts for the first time at the Fancy Food Show in New York City from June 30 to July 2, 2013, and brought along a bundle for connoisseurs.

Marisol's connoisseur bundle includes the Flos Salis® crock in medium size (8 oz./225g flaky flower of sea salt in exclusively designed ceramic salt ware), Marisol® Flor de Sal in a 200g refill pouch, and the Oleum olive oil dip plate. The crock's lid can be used at the table, and holds just enough salt flakes to serve for a meal. In order to fully sample the subtle taste, the flaky crystals should be crumbled between the fingers and sprinkled over the dish. When the Flos Salis® crock is empty, it can be refilled with Marisol® Flor de Sal, which comes in a transparent resealable pouch. An olive oil dip plate made from the same stoneware as the salt crocks completes the set and allows for the tasting of exquisite olive oil along with the salt - or just use it at the table for starters and additional seasoning. For storage, the plate fits neatly under the crock.

Used by top Michelin Star chefs in Europe, Marisol's 100% natural Flor de Sal retails in specialty food stores, delicatessens, organic stores, and select supermarkets. It is the Portuguese company's unwavering commitment to sustainable procedures and traditional hand harvesting that enables it to guarantee the superior quality, taste, and texture of its premium sea salts. The Flor de Sal flakes are carefully skimmed from the brine's surface by hand during the salt season, and are ideal for seasoning and finishing touches. Certifications cover the artisan production technique (Certiplanet) as well as kosher (Apple K by Natural Food Certifiers) and food quality and safety standards (ISO 22000 and IFS).

Marisol's delicate Flor de Sal flakes ('flower of sea salt') are totally natural, produced to the highest quality standards, and have international certification. Dried by the sun and the wind, the kosher sea salt is hand harvested using traditional techniques on Portugal's southern Atlantic coast, and is purified and certified in a truly organic sense. Totally free from additives, Marisol's Flor de Sal adds a subtle, natural taste to dishes and is perfect for seasoning and finishing touches. Sal Tradicional, also available from Marisol, is ideal for cooking and a finer dispersal of flavor.

Having made the transition from its artisan origins to a sustainable business with worldwide exportation, Marisol relaunched its business in 2013 as part of the company's strategy to consolidate and grow exports to North American markets. A fresh identity, new packaging designs, and a redesigned B2B website in English are accompanying Marisol's attendance at major international food fairs in North America and Europe. The new site, www.marisol.biz, includes a full online product catalogue, and serves the information needs of specialty food importers, distributors and wholesalers.

Bƶer & Siebert Lda ('Marisol')

The Portuguese company owns the trademarks Marisol® and Flos Salis® and produces natural sea salts for wholesalers, major supermarkets, and specialist retailers all over the world. Export countries include amongst others, the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, USA, Canada, Australia and Japan. The company also produces bespoke packages for own label brands, food manufacturers, and pharmaceutical companies.

Founded in 2000, the company works in partnership with traditional salt producers in the protected nature reserves of southern Portugal's Atlantic coast. Bƶer & Siebert Lda ('Marisol') stands for the sustainable production of unprocessed, natural sea salt and is committed to verifiable quality, a transparent supply chain, and fair business partnerships.



Innovative processing preserves the qualities of superior sea salt

Marisol® sea salts are produced in accordance with Certiplanet's strict standards on traditional salt gathering and comply with kosher and organic standards set by Natural Food Certifiers, USA. After harvest, the raw salt is carefully processed in the custom-made, semi-automatic transformation line for artisanal salt: the salt is cleaned by hand to remove impurities and then carefully packed in accordance to HACCP standards. Sal Tradicional is milled to a medium grain size. Marisol guarantees the highest food quality and safety standards with the international certifications, ISO 22000 and IFS Food.

Marisol, working in partnership with certified artisan saltpan producers, is committed to providing completely natural sea salts of superior quality, using sustainable methods. All salt is harvested by hand, dried naturally in the sun, and manually cleaned. No artificial processing or additives are used. The sea salts are harvested from saltpans in the protected nature reserves of the Ria Formosa and Sapal de Castro Marim on southern Portugal's Atlantic coast.



Trade fairs

Marisol will also be exhibiting at the international food fairs SIAL Gourmet Selection in Paris (September 2013) and ANUGA in Cologne (October 2013).



Legal:

The company is certified by Certiplanet, Peniche/Portugal; Natural Food Certifiers (USDA accredited), New York/USA; and SGS Portugal for ISO 22000 and IFS Food. Certificates, product specifications and analytical data are available on request. Marisol® and Flos Salis® are registered and protected as community trademarks within the EU and the United States.

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