Name: Explorer Club #206: SALT
Brand: Milou Chocolate Co.
SKU: EX-SALT
Price: 31.95 CAD
Availability: InStock

Explorer Club #206: SALT

Salt is physically essential to human life, but it has also played a pivotal role in historical, cultural, and economic contexts, having served as currency, influenced trade routes and the growth of cities, ignited wars, bolstered empires, and inspired revolutions. Its ability to enhance flavors makes it the one consistently indispensable ingredient across all world cuisines and throughout history. For most of human history, salt was also critical in preserving food and continues to be used for that purpose despite modern refrigeration. Its unique mineral composition, which varies by source and processing, imparts distinctive flavours and textures, serving a range of culinary uses. In this collection, we wanted to showcase three very special chocolate bars that highlight three unique salts.

$31.95

$35.50

Explorer Club #206: SALT

$31.95

$35.50

ÓBOLO CÁHUIL SAL DE MAR 70%

Producer Country: Chile
Cocoa: Direct Source, Organic
Weight: 80 g

Salt production in the town of Cáhuil began at least 500 years ago and methods of harvesting from the cold Humboldt Current waters has hardly changed since the pre-Columbian era. Today some 20 people work in the salt pools, having inherited the trade from their fathers and grandfathers, still producing the salt one hundred percent by hand, through laborious manual work. In 2011, these workers were declared Living Human Treasures by UNESCO, for their contribution to the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Chile. Cáhuil sea salt has also been given its own designation of origin (D.O) seal by the government of Chile. But this bar arguably does more to highlight Peru - the bright, distinctive, fulfilling qualities of Pangoa cocoa are what really stand out, with flavours of dried cherry, fig, bay leaf, malt, and fudge in addition to those tasty flakes of sea salt.

MONSOON SONORAN SEA SALT DARK 69%

Producer Country: United States
Cocoa: Direct Source
Weight: 50 g

The unrefined, naturally sun-dried sea salt that garnishes this bar is harvested from a remote and pristine estuary where the Sonoran Desert meets the Sea of Cortez. This salt's journey begins with the Colorado River, which travels through the majestic Grand Canyon, eventually reaching a narrow strip off the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from the Mexican mainland. Its taste and texture augment an already decadent chocolate full of hazelnut ganache, coffee bean, and pantry spice flavours.

CUNA DE PIEDRA COMALCALCO TABASCO W/ ANCIENT SPRING SALT 73%

Producer Country: Mexico
Cocoa: Direct Source, Made at Origin
Weight: 60 g

Cuna de Piedra joined Slow Food Mexico to support the preservation of Pre-Hispanic salt mines in the Oaxacan town of Zapotitlán Salinas. This salt's historical, cultural, and gastronomic value was recognized by Slow Food International in 2018 with the Presidia designation. Today there are less than 100 farmers left harvesting salt using a technique unchanged for generations - the stairs and rock walls of the wells go back so many hundreds of years that no one knows for sure when they were actually built! The use of this special salt can be pleasantly appreciated without distracting too much from the dark, fruity distinctiveness of the cocoa and its notes of black plum, bruised mint, and coffee.