Salt and Its Many Forms – From the Sea to the Table

Arrival and check-in at the selected property.

Our journey begins in the Trapani and Paceco Salt Pans Nature Reserve. Before even talking about production we will observe the landscape: pans, canals, windmills, white mountains and water birds.

We will understand that a salt pan is not simply a place where salt is collected, but a system built around the balance between sea water, evaporation, sun and wind.

The salt worker – The hands behind the landscape

Through a guided visit or a meeting with someone who knows this trade we will follow the path of the water through the different pans. Depending on the season and the availability of the operators, we may also get close to the tools and gestures of work in the salt pan.

Lunch will be dedicated to local cuisine and the area’s products. In the afternoon, return to Trapani and time to get to know the historic centre and its relationship with the sea.

Dinner at leisure or traditional, depending on the chosen formula. Overnight in the Trapani area.

Breakfast and departure by private vehicle.

We will keep following salt, but this time we will look for it outside the pans.

We will reach the Nubia area and then Bonagia, an old fishing village tied to the history of the tuna traps.

Before refrigerators

We will discover one of the reasons salt was so important to coastal communities: preserving what came from the sea.

Tuna, bottarga, fish and other preparations will let us understand how the availability of salt contributed for centuries to the transformation and preservation of food.

Through the spaces and testimonies tied to the tuna trap we will also get to know the world of the tonnaroti, the boats and the rais. When possible we will meet those who still keep the memory of local fishing.

The day will end with a food experience dedicated to the catch and its processing. Overnight in the Trapani/Valderice area.

Breakfast and departure for Marsala.

We will reach the Stagnone, where shallow water, islands, salt pans and windmills make up one of the most characteristic landscapes of the western coast.

From sea to crystal

We will enter a salt pan and follow the journey of the water again, this time looking closely at the phase in which the crystal is born.

Depending on the season we can have two different experiences: Salt worker for a day, during the harvesting period and in the way set by the operator, or Tasting salt, a guided tasting dedicated to whole sea salt, fleur de sel and different grain sizes.

In the late afternoon we will wait for sunset in front of the salt pans.

Dinner at leisure and overnight in Marsala.

Breakfast.

Today salt will finally enter the kitchen.

We will meet a chef, a traditional cook or a producer and tackle the subject of food preservation. Capers, olives, fish and other preparations may become concrete examples.

We will not just watch. Depending on the selected experience we may clean, prepare, salt or preserve a product.

White meets gold

In the afternoon we will enter a historic winery in Marsala. Salt and wine seem to belong to different worlds, but both have generated trade, work and relationships with distant lands.

The visit will end with a wine tasting accompanied by local products.

Overnight in Marsala.

Breakfast and departure for Mazara del Vallo.

We will cross the Kasbah and the historic centre, discovering a city where fishing, cooking and the meeting of cultures have left deep traces.

We will then reach the port area.

The catch of the Mediterranean

When possible we will meet a fisherman or someone tied to the local fishing fleet. We will talk about the catch, seasonality, preservation and what happens before a product reaches the table. The final lunch will be dedicated to seafood cuisine.

Five days earlier salt was just an ingredient. Now it will be sea, wind, work, preservation, trade and cooking.

At the end, transfer to the agreed destination and end of services.