Salt and its many forms

Salt will begin to have a face.

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 up to crystallisation.

We do not just want to photograph the salt pans. We want to understand how they work and why this landscape exists exactly as it does.

Depending on the period and the availability of operators, the experience may be enriched by a practical moment linked to the salt worker's trade and the tools traditionally used during processing.

Taking part in the actual harvest will instead be possible only in the period of the year when production conditions allow.

The day will continue with a lunch in the salt-pan area, devoted to local cooking and the catch. Salt, this time, will not necessarily be the visible protagonist of the dish. But we will discover how indispensable it was in the transformation and preservation of what came from the sea. In the afternoon we can continue the nature discovery of the area or devote time to Trapani and its historic centre.

Return by private vehicle. Dinner and overnight stay in the Trapani area.

We will follow the journey of sea water through the pans up to the birth of salt. We will enter the world of the mills and understand how important the wind was not only for evaporation, but also for the working of the ancient production system.

This day, however, will not be made only of explanations.

We will also have to touch the salt, look at it up close and learn to recognise it.

During the harvest period we will be able to get close to the work of the salt worker and, according to the arrangements set by the operator, enter the production areas dedicated to the experience.

Outside the harvest period, or as a complement to the visit, we will be able to take part in a guided tasting. Unrefined sea salt, fleur de sel and different grain sizes will let us discover differences in consistency, saltiness and use.

In the afternoon we will change colour. From the white of salt we will move to the gold, amber and deeper shades of Marsala wine.

We will enter a winery to get to know another product that has deeply marked the city's economic and commercial history, ending the visit with a tasting accompanied by small bites of the territory.

In the late afternoon we will return towards the Stagnone.

We will wait for sunset in front of the salt pans. The white that has accompanied us during the day will begin to turn pink, orange and gold, while mills and islands slowly remain in silhouette. Return by private vehicle. Dinner and overnight stay in the Marsala area.

We will meet a chef, a traditional cook or a local producer to discover one of the uses that made salt indispensable for centuries: food preservation.

Salted fish, capers, olives and other traditional preparations may become concrete examples through which to understand that salt did not serve only to add flavour.

It served to preserve.

The experience will also include, depending on the formula selected, a small practical moment.

At the table - How much salt do we really need?

The journey will end at the table. During lunch we will find again some of the products and flavours met over the three days and this time try to recognise their use and role.

Salt will no longer simply be what we find in a salt shaker.

It will be sea, sun, wind, work, preservation, cooking and landscape.

At the end, private transfer to Trapani, Marsala or another agreed location and end of services.

Three days earlier we saw only white mountains. Now, behind every crystal, we will recognise a landscape and the hands of those who continue to guard it.