Maldon exists: the (fairy tale) village east of London that gives its name to the salt

Maldon/EnglandMaldon truly exists. It's not just the brand of salt that has spread to sixty countries, especially Spain, which is the second largest consumer – England is the first–. Maldon is also a town located in the northeast of London, about sixty-odd kilometers from the British capital. The village seems like something out of a fairy tale, with exposed brick houses, local shops, independent bookstores, pubs where you could spend hours, terraces full of warm light garlands, and a small hotel (The Blue Boar), located opposite the Church of All Saints. A church – Protestant – which is a meeting point for the town, for young and old. The day we visited, grandparents were singing songs in a choir to their grandchildren, who were playing up and down in front of them.

The first thing I check when I step into Maldon is that the neighbours pronounce the a as an open o sound, and the second is that people feel comfortable there. They tell you that the shops are pretty, that it's a good place to live. The river has given them a lot of life, and has made the local economy function since historical times. Just at Maldon the river, named Blackwater, flows into the North Sea, and therefore it widens, it gets big, and the water is both fresh and salty at the same time.This is the origin of the salt pans: it is known that since Roman times there were natural ones around the river. And today if you take a boat from the town itself, mainly for tourists and foreigners, you can sail there and also check that it is called Blackwater because the water is turbulent. If you take the walk in the mid-afternoon, it is likely that they will offer you a snack, and then you will taste the scone (the English afternoon tea pastry) with butter, jam, and some Maldon salt crystals. And here it is important to highlight a very clear fact: in the English town the neighbors are proud of it, they use it everywhere and you will find it from breakfast to dinner, with transparent salt shakers, which must be turned from the top so that the salt comes out crushed in the quantity we want.Company secrets that are not revealed

As the Roman era is long gone and times change, in the 19th century, specifically in 1883, the Osborne family opened a workshop in a house by the river, where they established the pools with water, which enters through pipes to the interior. At this point it should be noted that the Osborne of Maldon salt is not from the same clan that settled in Cadiz to market Jerez wines, and which in Spain has the bull as its symbol. Today, in the same town, there is the historic workshop, which is in operation, but on the outskirts there is the rest. The company keeps the volume of production secret – it's not the only thing they won't tell me – but it is large, because they export to sixty countries, have one hundred and fifty employees on payroll, and, they assure, have sixty pools in operation.

When you enter the workshop, you discover that the salt pans are very different from what you had imagined during the walk along the Blackwater River. There are large stainless steel drums, pipes, the sound of ductwork, and, best of all, Gary Bertley, who is a master salt maker (salt master), the company's best salt crystal producer since 1993. Bertley is not authorized to reveal what the company's other big secret is, which is the water temperature in the two ponds where the water filtered from the river is held inside. The company insists it is a state secret. I notice it's a bit warm, but Gary is used to it. His work tool is a giant metallic broom, which he uses to stir the water and drag the salt found in it. Then, he collects it with the giant broom's shovel and throws it into some black containers. Afterwards, he takes the containers to another room, where there is a machine into which he pours the salt. Once poured, it passes through a turbine, which dries it, and from there it is transferred to a container, and it will be ready. The process is more laborious in time than what we have explained, but the central steps are these. Of course, it is a modern salt pan, from the 21st century, in a country where there were not many sunny hours or heat in ancient times. This summer England is experiencing temperatures above thirty degrees, but the Maldon brand salt pans are designed not to need sun drying.

And having reached this point, it must be explained why Maldon salt has become so famous all over the world, to the point that its name is often used to designate any flaky salt. The company's guide assures that there is not a single reason, but a combination of factors: the pyramidal shape of the crystals, which is created naturally, the taste and the quality.In our home, chefs incorporated it years ago into their cooking. And in Maldon, naturally, too. In the village's cooking space, where neighbors book a table to cook together and then have dinner, the chef prepares a sea bass with Maldon salt with almost ceremonial delicacy. He uses a kilo and a half piece and covers it with a mixture of two large containers of Maldon salt and whipped egg whites, with no other ingredients. With this paste, he completely wraps the fish, as if closing it in a chest, and bakes it for about forty minutes at 180 degrees. When he breaks the hard, compact crust, a sea bass appears, cooked in its own steam, juicy and with an exquisite texture. For the inhabitants of Maldon, this salt is a source of pride; for the rest of the world, the discovery that Maldon is not just a brand, but also a place that truly exists.