{"id":66021,"date":"2021-04-20T06:43:38","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T06:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/discovering-anana-salt\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T20:17:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:17:28","slug":"discovering-anana-salt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovering A\u00f1ana Salt"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Among the abundant produce available in the Basque Country, there’s only one local ingredient that wins the approval of the region’s chefs. A\u00f1ana salt has even been awarded a Michelin star. <\/p>\n\n

Some gourmands may head to San Sebastian for effervescent txakoli wine, wedges of Idiazabal cheese and jars of guindilla peppers. But some travelers may want to bring back an essential ingredient of Basque gastronomy: A\u00f1ana salt. <\/p>\n\n

A\u00f1ana salt: a one-of-a-kind salt<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Firstly, the region’s most famous mineral, A\u00f1ana salt is traditionally harvested from springs in an ancient sea at El Valle Salado, in the south-west of the Basque Country. Fleur de sel d’A\u00f1ana is a delicate variety harvested by hand from the surface of the valley during the evaporation process. Indeed, it is easily distinguished from the pink pebbles of the Himalayas and the pyramids of Maldon. Its grains are white, flat as shale and of varying sizes, like shards of broken milky glass. <\/p>\n\n

Mart\u00edn Berasategui, chef of his eponymous restaurant, calls l’A\u00f1ana the “Rolls-Royce of salts”. It’s a sentiment shared by many Basque chefs. <\/p>\n\n

More than just salt<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Not only is A\u00f1ana salt an essential component of Basque cuisine, it’s also an integral part of the region’s culture. The salt valley has been an important economic engine in the region since the Middle Ages. Back then, it was under the control of a community of salt workers, and was home to over 5,000 platforms used to collect the white gold. <\/p>\n\n

Then, in the mid-1900s, increasingly competitive markets led the A\u00f1ana salt workers’ association – the Gatzagak – to cut costs. To do so, they introduced a cheaper and less durable building material into the salt works: cement. <\/p>\n\n

So, with a new emphasis on profitability, salt was overexploited. The sustainable practices that had defined the valley for generations began to fade. Workers gave up their jobs, the area deteriorated and El Valle Salado almost disappeared. <\/p>\n\n

Find more interesting facts about Foie Gras and the Basque Country on our Blog<\/a> and tasty recipes in the Recipe<\/a> section of our website!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Among the abundant produce available in the Basque Country, there’s only one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2268],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-unclassified"],"yoast_head":"\nSel d'A\u00f1ana: a gastronomic treasure trove<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sel d'A\u00f1ana: a natural, ancient product from the Basque saltworks in Spain.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Discovering A\u00f1ana Salt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Among the abundant produce available in the Basque Country, there's only one local ingredient that wins the approval of the region's chefs. A\u00f1ana salt has\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relais Gourmet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/relaisgourmet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-20T06:43:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-30T20:17:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/alava-salinas-anana-t.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"615\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"369\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Relais Gourmet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@relaisgourmet64\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@relaisgourmet64\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Relais Gourmet\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/discovering-anana-salt\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/discovering-anana-salt\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Relais Gourmet\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fee9aa741054268c2e034821e2d97f46\"},\"headline\":\"Discovering A\u00f1ana Salt\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-20T06:43:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-30T20:17:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/discovering-anana-salt\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":361,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/discovering-anana-salt\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/alava-salinas-anana-t.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Unclassified\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/discovering-anana-salt\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/discovering-anana-salt\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/discovering-anana-salt\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sel d'A\u00f1ana: a gastronomic treasure trove\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/discovering-anana-salt\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/discovering-anana-salt\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/alava-salinas-anana-t.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-20T06:43:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-30T20:17:28+00:00\",\"description\":\"Sel d'A\u00f1ana: a natural, ancient product from the Basque saltworks in Spain.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/discovering-anana-salt\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/discovering-anana-salt\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/discovering-anana-salt\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/alava-salinas-anana-t.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/alava-salinas-anana-t.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/discovering-anana-salt\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Casa\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/home\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Discovering A\u00f1ana Salt\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Relais Gourmet\",\"description\":\"Foie Gras 100% Fran\u00e7ais\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Relais Gourmet\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/yoast-logo-2-relais-gourmet-.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/yoast-logo-2-relais-gourmet-.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Relais Gourmet\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/relaisgourmet\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/relaisgourmet64\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/relaisgourmetofficiel\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.fr\\\/relaisgourmet\\\/\"],\"email\":\"yaqueche@relaisgourmet.com\",\"telephone\":\"+33 0 5 40 07 07 65\",\"legalName\":\"Relais Gourmet\",\"vatID\":\"FR13482415015\",\"taxID\":\"482415015\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fee9aa741054268c2e034821e2d97f46\",\"name\":\"Relais Gourmet\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7d33fb359355faf6cdd998ffcdf84865e1af065d1674331f55b153bece25574c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7d33fb359355faf6cdd998ffcdf84865e1af065d1674331f55b153bece25574c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/7d33fb359355faf6cdd998ffcdf84865e1af065d1674331f55b153bece25574c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Relais Gourmet\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relaisgourmet.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sel d'A\u00f1ana: a gastronomic treasure trove","description":"Sel d'A\u00f1ana: a natural, ancient product from the Basque saltworks in Spain.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Discovering A\u00f1ana Salt","og_description":"Among the abundant produce available in the Basque Country, there's only one local ingredient that wins the approval of the region's chefs. A\u00f1ana salt has","og_url":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/","og_site_name":"Relais Gourmet","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/relaisgourmet\/","article_published_time":"2021-04-20T06:43:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-30T20:17:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":615,"height":369,"url":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/alava-salinas-anana-t.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Relais Gourmet","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@relaisgourmet64","twitter_site":"@relaisgourmet64","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Relais Gourmet","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/"},"author":{"name":"Relais Gourmet","@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fee9aa741054268c2e034821e2d97f46"},"headline":"Discovering A\u00f1ana Salt","datePublished":"2021-04-20T06:43:38+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-30T20:17:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/"},"wordCount":361,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/alava-salinas-anana-t.jpg","articleSection":["Unclassified"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/","url":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/","name":"Sel d'A\u00f1ana: a gastronomic treasure trove","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/alava-salinas-anana-t.jpg","datePublished":"2021-04-20T06:43:38+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-30T20:17:28+00:00","description":"Sel d'A\u00f1ana: a natural, ancient product from the Basque saltworks in Spain.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/alava-salinas-anana-t.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/alava-salinas-anana-t.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/discovering-anana-salt\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Casa","item":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Discovering A\u00f1ana Salt"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/","name":"Relais Gourmet","description":"Foie Gras 100% Fran\u00e7ais","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/#organization","name":"Relais Gourmet","url":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/yoast-logo-2-relais-gourmet-.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/yoast-logo-2-relais-gourmet-.png","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"Relais Gourmet"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/relaisgourmet\/","https:\/\/x.com\/relaisgourmet64","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/relaisgourmetofficiel","https:\/\/www.pinterest.fr\/relaisgourmet\/"],"email":"yaqueche@relaisgourmet.com","telephone":"+33 0 5 40 07 07 65","legalName":"Relais Gourmet","vatID":"FR13482415015","taxID":"482415015"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fee9aa741054268c2e034821e2d97f46","name":"Relais Gourmet","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7d33fb359355faf6cdd998ffcdf84865e1af065d1674331f55b153bece25574c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7d33fb359355faf6cdd998ffcdf84865e1af065d1674331f55b153bece25574c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7d33fb359355faf6cdd998ffcdf84865e1af065d1674331f55b153bece25574c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Relais Gourmet"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66021"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66022,"href":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66021\/revisions\/66022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relaisgourmet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}