Fleur de sel ("Flower of salt" in French) is a hand-harvested sea salt collected by workers who scrape only the top layer of salt before it sinks to the bottom of large salt pans. Traditional French Fleur de sel is collected off the coast of Brittany, and is slightly grey due to the sandy minerals that are collected in the process of harvesting the salt from the pans.

Also known in Portuguese as "Flor de sal", the hand-harvested variant from the

Algarve region of Portugal is becoming known as it is of similar quality to the French Fleur de Sel or better, and in addition has the advantage of being pure white and usually sells for half of the price of the french Fleur de Sel.

Fleur de Sel is best used as you would a fresh herb, sprinkling it on just before serving.