Experience package
Private tour between Mazara del Vallo and Marsala
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A private journey between Mazara del Vallo and Marsala following the sea, the people and one of the most representative products of Mediterranean fishing: the Red Prawn.
We will enter the harbour of a city deeply tied to fishing, walk through the alleys of the Kasbah, meet those who live the sea for work and listen to what it means to set out when fishing can take you far from the coast for days.
Then the Red Prawn will move from the story to our hands: we will enter the kitchen, learn to recognise it, handle it and turn it into a dish.
The journey will end in Marsala, where the Mediterranean meets another great story of this territory: that of wine.
Three days to follow a route that starts from the sea, passes through the hands of fishermen and cooks and finally arrives at the table.
Arrival in Mazara del Vallo and check-in at the selected accommodation.
The journey will begin from the place that best allows us to understand the identity of the city: the sea. With a local guide we will enter the history of Mazara del Vallo, a city that has kept over the centuries a strong maritime and fishing vocation and that still today lives in constant relationship with the Mediterranean.
Before the Red Prawn we will meet the world around it.
The harbour will let us get close to the boats, the crews, the nets and the organisation of an activity that has deeply marked the city's economic and social life.
From the harbour we will enter the Kasbah, crossing the network of alleys, courtyards and streets of the historic centre. Here the Mediterranean will change meaning: it will no longer be only the sea in which one fishes, but a road along which men, words, religions, techniques, ingredients and traditions have arrived.
The day will continue with a visit to the Museum of the Dancing Satyr.
The Satyr, recovered from the waters of the Sicilian Channel by a Mazara fishing boat, creates a direct link between archaeology, fishing and the local community.
In the evening we will sit down to a dinner devoted to Mazara's seafood cooking.
Overnight stay in Mazara del Vallo.
Breakfast.
Today the protagonist will be the Red Prawn, but before cooking it we want to meet those who go in search of it.
We will reach the harbour and meet a fisherman, a fishing-fleet operator or a local figure tied to the world of fishing.
We will talk about departures and returns, days spent at sea, crews, seasons, tools and a job that can take you far from the coast.
When possible, the meeting may also include a small practical moment: learning a knot, recognising a piece of equipment, reading some elements of the boat or understanding how the product is selected and handled.
We will learn to recognise the Red Prawn, and find out about its characteristics, origin, uses and ways of preserving it.
We will put on an apron and take part in a cooking class devoted to the Red Prawn and seafood cooking.
The chef will show us how to handle a delicate raw material, how to clean it and how to bring out its qualities without masking its characteristics.
In the end we will eat what we have helped to prepare.
In the morning we will have met those who bring the product from sea to land. In the kitchen we will have met those who transform it from raw material into a dish.
Dinner at leisure. Overnight stay in Mazara del Vallo.
Breakfast and departure by private vehicle to Marsala.
We will enter the historic centre of Marsala to discover a city in which the relationship with the sea has generated a different story from the one we met in Mazara del Vallo.
We will enter a historic winery in Marsala.
We will visit the production and ageing rooms and learn the story that turned a wine born in the far west of Sicily into a product known well beyond the island's borders. The visit will end with a tasting accompanied by local products.
The final lunch will bring together the two threads of the journey. The proposal will be built around the local catch, accompanied by wines of the area and, when gastronomically appropriate, by a pairing with Marsala.
At the end, private transfer to the agreed location and end of services.
Three days earlier the Red Prawn was simply a prized product. Now behind that colour we will recognise a sea, a boat, a fisherman, a city, hands and a cuisine.
2 overnight stays in Mazara del Vallo in a hotel, B&B, historic residence or selected accommodation.
Activities linked to the catch depend on seasonality, sea conditions and the actual availability of the product. The presence of fresh Red Prawn in a particular preparation depends on the real availability of the raw material.
Tell us the dates of your trip and the number of travellers: we will check the availability of the experiences, the accommodation and the private services and prepare a proposal built around the needs of your trip.
Red Prawns and Mediterranean Catch