A Mediterranean Harvest
Es Trenc, Mallorca, Spain.
On the southeast coast of Mallorca, the land is flat, and the sea crystal clear. For centuries, salt harvesting has been carried out here in Es Trenc. As the stone-built pans receive the seawater, the summer sun does the rest. Slowly crystallizing the salt, while the minerals are kept intact. Time doesn’t matter here too much, since nature is just doing its thing.
The crystals appear as the salt flowers are formed, and patient hands gather the harvest with wooden rakes. Next, the salt is spread, and dried in the sun until it is ready to be packed. The process couldn’t be more artisanal; by mixing nature’s processes with manmade slow methodologies, Flor de Sal d ’Es Trenc respects both nature and its timing.
We were lucky enough to cook and season all our dishes with these salts during our last Mediterranean Retreat, giving our guests the chance to understand a bit better food culture in Mallorca, with this ancient ingredient.
All the recipes are conceived by Deborah, and prepared as a simple interpretation of the culinary heritage of Mallorca, playing with the colorful and seasonal fresh ingredients of fall, in perfect harmony with what has been harvested from the sea. For example, our first meal together started with a pumpkin soup seasoned with the curry variety, and an almond ice-cream dessert was sprinkled with rose-flavored salt.
Not only are the salts tasty, but the way they are presented is visually alluring, earning the brand's packaging, international recognition some years back. There is something special about the simplicity of the white background on their boxes, and the bright colors chosen for each variety are so enthralling and, in essence, Mediterranean.
As we unpack the salts on our first morning at the house, we know they are a perfect fit for our travel and food itinerary that week, but when we realize the round boxes fit perfectly in the stucco shelves in the kitchen, we can't believe our luck. we guess it was once again, just meant to be.
Photography by Jessie Webster, Deborah Piña and me.