On first glance, you might think that my mom, Claire, is standing in front of a pile of snow; however, on second look, she’s standing in front of a pile of salt! Yes, that’s right, this is harvested sea salt in Nubia, Trapani on the side of one of the salt pans.
The Phoenicians were the first (that we know of) to harvest salt by evaporation from the marshes along Sicily’s west coast from Marsala to Trapani, beginning probably in the 6th or 7th century BC. Their motivation stemmed from the abundance of tuna that they expertly fished and then exported around the Mediterranean Basin. Packing the tuna in salt helped the ancient fisherman preserve their lucrative catch.
