Maras salt: what is it and where is it produced?
It's called Peruvian pink salt, Inca salt, or Maras salt. Behind these names lies a specific place, a precise process, and a social organization found nowhere else.
Where is Maras located?
Maras is a village in the Urubamba province, in the Cusco region, southern Peru. It overlooks the Sacred Valley of the Incas, approximately 40 kilometers from Cusco and about fifteen kilometers from the Ollantaytambo site.
The salt flats, locally called salineras de Maras, cling to the side of the Qaqawiñay quebrada, at an altitude of about 3,300 meters.
How the salt forms
An underground spring emerges from the hillside. Its water is saturated with salt: it flows through a fossil geological formation, the residue of an inland sea that dried up millions of years ago. The flow is constant throughout the year.
The inhabitants have harnessed this spring with a network of channels that feed about 3,000 shallow, terraced basins. The process has not changed:
- The channel is opened, and the basin fills with a few centimeters of water.
- It is then closed. The sun and dry mountain air do the rest.
- In about a month, the water has evaporated and a salt crust has settled at the bottom.
- It is broken and collected with a shovel, then the process restarts.
Harvesting is concentrated during the dry season, from April to October. During the rainy season, the basins overflow and production ceases.
Why it is pink
The hue comes from the minerals dissolved in the spring water and the clay in the basins. It is not uniform: depending on the basin and the period, the salt ranges from off-white to bright pink, sometimes with beige reflections. Maras salt that is perfectly uniform in color would be sorted or refined salt.
The community system
This is what makes Maras special. Each basin belongs to a village family, who maintains and harvests it themselves. Allocation is done through the community, and a basin left abandoned for too long returns to the collective to be reallocated.
This system predates the Inca empire. The Incas incorporated the salt flats into their territory without changing their organization, and neither did the Spanish. Today, the families are grouped into a cooperative.
Maras salt, sea salt, Himalayan salt
| Origin | Harvesting | Color | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maras Salt | Underground spring, fossil aquifer | Solar evaporation, manual | Irregular pink |
| Sea salt | Current seawater | Salt marshes | White to gray |
| Himalayan salt | Rock deposit (Pakistan) | Mining extraction | Deep pink |
The difference in taste is mainly due to the particle size and the lack of refining: unrefined salt with large crystals dissolves more slowly and salts less immediately.
The four versions
- Coarse grain — grilled meats, oven, mill.
- Fine grain — everyday cooking, salt shaker.
- Smoked — with a smoky taste.
- With herbs — mixed with aromatics.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Maras salt sea salt?
No. It comes from an underground spring fed by a fossil aquifer, not the ocean.
Why does the color change from one bag to another?
Because it is neither sorted nor refined. The shade depends on the basin and the harvest period.
Can it be put in a mill?
Yes, the coarse grain is intended for that. The fine grain, no: it is already ground.
How to store it?
Away from humidity, with the bag sealed. Salt does not expire, but it clumps if it gets wet. No anti-caking agent is added.
Is it saltier than table salt?
At equal weight, no. But at equal volume, a coarse grain fills the spoon more, so you use less. It's a matter of particle size, not composition.
To learn more
See also where our three products come from, black maca from Junín and Kuntu coffee from Amazonas.
For cooking: rib of beef with coarse Maras salt, potatoes with smoked salt, herb butter.