meet in your kitchen | The Cini Salt Pans and Sun-dried Tomatoes in Gozo
by meike peters
Gozo is one of the most magical places I know, it’s Malta’s silent and peaceful sister island, full of natural beauty. Whenever the ferry reaches Mgarr harbour in the south of the island after a 20 minute crossing of the channel between the two islands, I feel overwhelmed by its serenity and happy to be there again!
There is so much to write about Gozo, so many places to introduce you to and I will do that in the next few days, but for now I will show you just one of them which is very special to me. It’s a place that produces a product which I use every day in my cooking, Gozo sea salt. I buy my salt at the Xwejni pans in the north, owned by the Cini family. Rose Cini’s family has been harvesting sea salt for five generations. She herself has worked in the pans which are cut into the porous rock, all her life until the family almost stopped using them in the early sixties. Together with her husband Emmanuel, their daughter Josephine and David, their son-in-law, they have revived this tradition.
Salt pans have been in this location since Roman times. The position, the climate, the rock and the good quality of the sea water are perfect for salt harvesting.
When Emmanuel married into the family most of the pans hadn’t been used for a few years and they weren’t in the best state. He decided to repair and clean them and to continue the family tradition in 1969. He built up a little family business which is now run by the four family members Emmanuel, Rose, Josephine and David. The four of them keep the pans filled with sea water between May and September. In June and July, the peak of the harvest season, they carry up to 3 tonnes of salt off the 300 pans each week! Sea water contains about 3.7% of salt, the water in the pans about 5%, as soon as the water is pumped up it will take around 7 days for it to evaporate. 24 liters of sea water are necessary to harvest 1 kg / 2 pounds of salt.
Emmanuel Cini has always wanted to keep the traditional way of harvesting the salt, work which is mainly done by hand; it demands lots of passion but also physical strength. In 1974 he made a decision which was considered very modern at that time in Gozo, he was the first to pack the salt in plastic bags with his name printed on and sold it in shops all over the islands, he became the Salt Baron from Gozo!
When I asked him if he sees his work as the perfect job he said “Yes, of course!”. Although it’s physically very straining, he never complains, as his daughter says. The whole family works at the pans, fills them, empties them and carries the salt up into a little cave which is cut into the stone to store the salt, the salt shop. That’s where you can buy it, or from the little table under an umbrella which they put out on the street from 10:30 to 17:00, every day, that’s where you can find the Cinis between April and December.
Gozo sea salt contains more than 80 trace minerals, I love the crystal’s flaky texture and the fine taste for my cooking!
I have been buying my salt from the Cinis for many years and when I asked them if they would like to share a recipe on eat in my kitchen, Rose said that she would show me how to make sun-dried tomatoes in her mobile outdoor kitchen outside the salt shop. It takes between 4-6 days to sun-dry the tomatoes and the final result tastes divine! You need a hot climate and constant sun for this period of time to dry the fruits!
Sun-dried Tomatoes by Rose Cini
All you need is
ripe tomatoes
coarse sea salt
Rinse and dry the tomatoes and cut them in half (crosswise). Spread them on a metal grid (cut side up) and sprinkle each tomato generously with sea salt. Leave the tomatoes out in the sun for 4-6 days, covered with a mosquito net by day and with a plastic sheet by night (to protect them from humidity).
When the tomatoes are dried, rinse them and dry them in the sun for an hour. Store them in sterilized jars when they are completely dry with a handful of coarse sea salt. You can also preserve them covered in olive oil.
[…] (or in the oven). They cooked to perfection, with a gentle touch of the salted water. I used Gozitan salt, which I find not only subtle in saltiness, but also tastier than any other I’ve tried. […]
How do I purchase Emmaule Cini’s salt on-line?
Hi Tim, Emmanuel doesn’t sell his salt online, you’ll have to travel to Gozo. All the best from Berlin! Meike
Dose anyone sell his salt on line (like a gormet shop in Gozo)? Hell of trip to buy some salt even if great.
R/ Tim wall
[…] my kitchen, which were in a rather chaotic state, and to my surprise, I found far more packages of Mr. Cini’s sea salt than I had expected. They didn’t last very long, I needed 1 kg / 2 1/4 pounds to cover my […]
[…] cakes. A pile of small lemons from my kitchen counter has been squeezed into a jar with lots of Mr. Cini’s sea salt to preserve and soften them for aromatic lamb shanks. My mood leaves no doubt that I’m ready […]
[…] enjoying its smooth texture and aromatic taste refined with pretty pink peppercorns and my flaky sea salt from Gozo. I roasted lots of fleshy cloves from a young garlic bulb in the oven, you’ll need about 15 […]
[…] Licari and the young Maltese chef Kurt Micallef in their kitchens. I could show you Emmanuel Cini’s ancient salt pans in Gozo and share so many other meet in your kitchen stories with you. The white pages I fill every week […]
[…] my pantry shelves and it reminded me of the good times I had with them in summer. With Mr. Cini at his salt pans in Gozo, in my pesto that I used as a spread on a sandwich, mixed with sage and chèvre on juicy zucchini […]
[…] So, the air in my kitchen was filled with the addictive smell of freshly baked bread mixed with the woody aroma of rosemary. I sat in front of the oven like a hungry cat and I couldn’t wait for the focaccia to be done, it was so tempting! I took the photos as quickly as possible as the aromas teased my nose even more after I cut the first piece off the thick and flat loaf. Then, finally, when I took the first bite, I just enjoyed the spongy softness, the oily crust which was almost flaky, the grapes which released their juices and this heavenly taste topped with roast rosemary sprigs and my Gozitan salt from the Cini family! […]
Dear Imanuel . We enjoyed so much visiting you in your Salt Pans site
a few days ago and now using your healthy salt at home and giving gifts of this salt as fifts to our sons
thanks a lot-
Tzachi and Rachel Kolumbus
Israel
Dear Tzachi and Rachel Kolumbus,
I wrote this feature about the wonderful Emmanuel Cini, his family and salt on my blog, you can get in touch with Emmanuel on his Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Xwejni-Salt-Pans/167292266642013
All the best,
Meike
Meike, I have so enjoyed your holiday in Malta…makes me want to go there one day. The photos are just wonderful.
Thank you Marigene, it’s been an amazing time, as always when we’re in Malta. It makes me really happy that you have enjoyed it so much! I love it, especially Gozo, it’s a truly magical place! Have a wonderful weekend! Meike xx