Maras

Sacred Valley, Peru · terraced ponds fed by a saline mountain spring · terraces worked for centuries, each held by a local family

A warm spring carries brine out of the mountainside above the Urubamba and into some three thousand shallow terraces, each held by a local family. The sun does the rest. Iron in the rock tints the crystal a pale pink; it is there for the eye, and the salt beneath it is firm, moderate in moisture and even-tempered on the tongue.

• Crystalmoist blush-pink granule
• Dissolutionsteady — between the two
• Moisturemoderate
• Adhesionholds on cut surfaces
• Texturefirm and granular
• Applicationstone fruit, avocado, grilled vegetables, crudo