A.Vogel World: Stories > Fresh Herb Sea Salts

A.Vogel Fresh Herb Sea Salts
– the complete taste of nature

For many decades, Herbamare^® sea salts have been food classics in many households and we cannot imagine living without these seasonings. Herbamare Spicy^® and Herbamare Diet^® - the first of which is particularly spicy, the other being somewhat milder but just as aromatic – complete the superior range of A.Vogel fresh herb sea salts. The well known pioneer of natural health, Alfred Vogel, combined all the healthy, tasty and nutritional aspects in the best way possible to suit every type of cooking.

Familiarise yourself with the wonderful aroma. Close your eyes and breathe in deeply. Provence? Camargue? The wind? The sea? An amazing range of smells. In his classic book, The Nature Doctor, which first appeared in 1952, Alfred Vogel wrote, “Use only sea salt as a seasoning in the kitchen.” According to Vogel, the valuable trace elements in sea salt not only have an excellent taste but also stimulate the internal metabolism and “You will lose many grams of excess weight as a result.” However sea salt is only one component, the other is the wonderful sense-stirring taste of fresh herbs and vegetables covered in dew. The result of this combination is the truly delicious taste that no one who has tasted it once can do without. To get to this stage, and for the store of aromas to be released on the palate, involves a lot of manual work, a great deal of knowledge about the processes of Nature and, above all, the quite special A.Vogel recipe.

From organic cultivation to tasty herb salt
“The holistic principle to which modern biological medicine strives for also applies to nutrition. It is well known that remedies made from fresh plants are superior to those made from dried ones,” wrote Alfred Vogel in an article in A.Vogel’s Gesundheits-Nachrichten in May 1964. Anything that applies to healing remedies also applies to health food remedies: Only fresh plants contain all the energy of Nature.

Twelve garden fresh herbs and vegetables make up the original ingredients of the five herb sea salts, particularly the classic basic composition of Herbamare^®. These herbs are parsley, chives, basil, lovage, marjoram, rosemary and thyme. The vegetables, celery, leek, cress, onions and garlic are mixed in with them. The chilli and pepper in tangy Herbamare^® Spicy give it its unique piquancy. All the herbs and vegetables are organically grown (BIO SUISSE) and are cultivated by A.Vogel contract farmers in healthy soil, without the use of pesticides and herbicides. This guarantees freshness and a pure aroma from the lovingly tended garden. In addition to fresh herbs, A.Vogel fresh herb sea salts also contain the iodiferous sea alga, kelp. Where there is a lack of natural iodine, it constitutes an essential element of a healthy food supplement (and a preventative against diseases caused by a lack of iodine).

Opening the store of aromas
Immediately after harvesting and cleaning, the organic farmers deliver the herbs and vegetables – approximately 600 tons a year – to the A.Vogel/Bioforce factory in Colmar in France where both the weight and quality are checked. No harvest batch should be more than 8 hours old! The criterion is “fresh and pure”. The herbs are now sortenrein crushed, macerated, dried and ground and just after that, blended, according to the original recipe of A.Vogel. Here is a detailed account of the procedure: After being crushed, the herbs are blended with the sea salt in the ratio of 1:2. This salt ‘mash’ is stored in barrels according to type or more precisely, the water content of the ingredients, for between 3 and 18 months. During this time, various things happen: The herbs and vegetables are enclosed in the salt as if in a vault. In this way the salt crystals extract the colourings and flavours, the essential oils and enzymes as well as other active plant substances. Herbs and sea salt now combine to give the fresh herb sea salt its incomparable taste. Once the maceration process is over, the aromatic and vegetable mush is dried off in vacuum at a maximum temperature of 40ºC. The dried salt cakes are coarsely broken, finely ground and blended according to the strict guidelines set by Alfred Vogel.

After further quality controls, the wonderfully aromatic mixtures are temporarily stored in huge silos. The next stage is filling the fresh herb sea salts into differing size dispensers on a fully automated fill and packaging line. Every single one of the sprinkler tubs, almost 5 million all of which carry the A.Vogel Brand guarantee, contains the full seasoning power of Nature and is completely free of flavour enhancers, additional emulsifying agents or E numbers.

Incidentally: Taste is not a question of quantity but of quality. In the expensive manufacture of fresh herb sea salts, the ratio between fresh products and sea salt is 1:2, which ensures the stability of the product. After the drying process, the proportion of vegetables is 6-8%.

…et voilà: The Family of Fresh Herb Salts
Now that you have sampled the wonderful aroma, we invite you to look at the whole family of A.Vogel herb mixtures.

1. Herbamare - the original
This fresh herb sea salt is made from 12 freshly harvested herbs and vegetables. It is a fresh herb sea salt, which is singled out due to its intense taste and high quality. Herbamare^® can be used wherever ordinary cooking salt and sea salt are used, e.g. to enhance the flavour of vegetables, salad sauces, rice, bread, eggs, meat, quark, tomatoes and much more. Herbamare^® for stylish seasoning. A treat for the connoisseur. Herbamare^® is distributed in over 25 countries in all continents and is the classic A.Vogel herbal salt.

2. Herbamare Spicy - spicy and tangy
Herbamare Spicy is Herbamare’s spicy sister and is made up of 12 herbs and vegetables with the addition of chilli and pepper. Spicy goes well with all piquant and ‘hot’ meals, such as pasta, pizza, lasagne, Mexican dishes, meat dishes, Asian dishes and of course grills. Spicy: ideal for all those who like things a bit spicier.

3. Herbamare Diet - the low sodium sea salt
The very low sodium diet salt (salt substitute for food), Herbamare^® Diet, made from potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, fresh, aromatic, dried and organically grown (EG-Bio-VO 2092/91) vegetables and herbs, and the mineral rich, iodiferous sea alga, kelp. Herbamare^® Diet is very low in salt and especially suitable for low salt diets.

4. Herbamare Bombay - the exotic sea salt
Herbamare Bombay gives an exotic touch of curry to all your dishes! It lets you discover savours and exquisite aromas of spice from the Orient. Perfectly suited for your potatoes, grills, eggs, lambs and other meats. Add after cooking to enhance taste!

5. Herbamare Ocean - the perfumed sea salt
Herbamare Ocean lures you in through the softness of its taste as you can hear the call of the sea! This delightfully perfumed recipe carries you into the depths of the sea. Perfect for your fresh fish, shellfish, fish marinades and court-bouillon.

6. Herbamare Provencale - the sunny sea salt
Herbamare Provencale brings sunshine to your plates and the taste of summer vacation to every meal! Its taste stems from the freshness of South of France’s finest vegetables. Perfectly suited for seasoning your salads, vegetables and tomato sauces.

It makes no difference what your own personal favourite is – all are 100% organically grown. And what Alfred Vogel wrote in Gesundheits-Nachrichten in May 1964 still applies today: “Herbamare^® is both a seasoning and a foodstuff, a delight to the palate and a treat for the body.”

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