Morning walk yesterday took us to Salinas Del Carmen, a nice small rustic fishing village, just south of Caleta, home to the Salt Museum (Museo de la Sal). The church is a modern build with a very nice carved door.
There are 2 restaurants there, both good in my opinion, one is in the village closed Monday & Tuesday and one is at the museum run by the owners of Volcano, a very good restaurant in Caleta. The one at the Museum is only open at lunchtime, see photo.
Can you visit the restaurant in Museum with paying to visit as we have been around it twice no need to see it again but it would be a nice walk to have a meal half way cheers
Be aware that the one in the Museum is very... High-brow? If you like Volcano, you will probably love it there: a strong focus on quality ingredients and authentic fare, but with a price to match and a very limited menu compared to a lot of restaurants around Caleta. Will probably not be ideal if you are on a budget or have picky eaters in your group!
Quote:Acquired by the Cabildo 20 years ago to become the current Salt Interpretation Center, the Salinas del Carmen continue to produce salt according to the traditional method, and have allowed to keep alive the ancestral trade of the salinero.
The salt harvest lasts between the months of February and October, although it can be extended to the winter months if the rains are scarce, which means that at this time, with the change in temperatures, the Salinas del Carmen are in full production process. From the time the water is deposited in the pits or evaporators, diverted there from the heaters once it has reached the appropriate temperature thanks to the action of the sun and the wind, until the salt works collect the salt, about 15 days pass and one month. Once removed from the pit, the salt remains piled up for a week in what the old salineros called balache, to, once dry, be transferred to the warehouse for packaging.
Each pit produces about 40 or 50 kilograms of salt, and each day between 200 and 400 kilos of salt are removed to the warehouse. Production in the Salinas del Carmen is 70,000 kilos of salt per year, a very modest amount compared to the large producing companies, which would not be enough to even supply the island population. However, it is a top quality product, as recent comparative studies with common salt have shown.
The salt flats that the lord of the island, D. Francisco Bautista de Lugo y Saavedra, began to build towards the end of the 1720s in La Honduras, south of Caleta de Fustes, constitute the antecedent of the El Carmen salt flats. Those first salt flats, of an old type, made of clay, were sold by the heirs of the Territorial Lord to the Velázquez Cabrera brothers. They donated part of them to a nephew, D. Manuel Velázquez Cabrera, who later took on the challenge and, probably on them or together with them, built the current El Carmen salt flats around 1910.
The construction typology of these salt flats is considered transitional, since the simple pit, made of mud, coexists with the pit built with stone lining.
In 1995, the Cabildo de Fuerteventura acquired the El Carmen salt flats from the heirs of Mr. Manuel Velázquez Cabrera in order to preserve them, restore and rehabilitate them for cultural purposes.
The historical, ethnographic, ecological and landscape values that the El Carmen salt flats present determined that they were the object of a Special Protection Plan in 1995 and of their declaration as Asset of Cultural Interest, with the category of Monument, in 2002. The salinero trade . The salt season runs from March to October. The rest of the year maintenance tasks are carried out on the salt flats, cleaning the residue from the bottom of the pits or building new ones.
When the sea water is introduced into the saltadero, it is conducted to the heaters, where the salinero leaves it for eight to ten days to warm up. Then she leads it to the cookers where the sun evaporates the water for fifteen to twenty days. Meanwhile, the salinero performs twice a day, in the morning and at sunset, the skimming of the salt with the rake, so that the salt crystals that are formed on the surface, are deposited at the bottom of the cooker or pit .
When almost all the water evaporates, the salt is removed with the rake at the edge of the pit and allowed to drain for a few days. When the salt is dry, it is collected by wheelbarrow for transfer to the warehouse. Throughout the season, between twelve and fourteen collections can be made. Terminology. Saltadero:
It is the highest point of the salt flats. The wind drives the waves towards the rocks and upon impact, foam forms, where the greatest amount of salt is concentrated. The water jumps out and enters the saltadero. From here it is channeled to the cookers or heaters. Cookers: The water collected in the saltadero passes through a channel or gate until it reaches these three tanks. The water passes successively from one to the other, heating up by the action of the sun. When it reaches the right temperature, it is channeled to the pits or evaporators.
Tajos: When the water reaches the cooker, it is ready to evaporate and produce the crystallization of the salt. A thin layer of salt forms on the surface, which the salt maker removes twice a day, so that it deposits on the bottom. When almost all the water evaporates, it draws the salt from the bottom and is allowed to drain at the edge of the pit. Then you will pick it up and transport it to the warehouse. Warehouse: Here the clean and dry salt is stored and then packed. It is also used to store the salineer's work tools. From here some rails came out from the warehouse, to be shipped. It is the only example in the Canary Islands of this means of transporting salt. History of the salt flats in Fuerteventura.
On the coast of Fuerteventura there are several natural cookers in which the first salt that was collected on the island set. The Chronicle of the conquest tells that the aborigines did not use this resource, although some researchers think that they did, or that they used sea water to facilitate the conservation of the dried meat they consumed.
The chroniclers also refer that the island had "... large amounts of salt, on the ocean side, and on the other side very beautiful places to put beds of salt flats ...".
The natural cookers were stately property, although the neighbors had the right to freely collect the salt they needed for their supply. The Island Council issued regulations to protect this right:
"They agreed that no one dares to ship it or sell it to whoever ships it, if not only is it sold by some neighbors to others, without anyone having privilege over the salt caught in puddles ... because it belongs to everyone ..." (1641).
“… That no person is from one day to the next on the coast picking up salt, but only that which is available in one day and will need for their spending; and if a neighbor comes and sees it caught, he can lift it up, paying the one who took it three reales bushels, leaving him whatever he needs… ”(1700).
In 1677 the lord of the island, D. Fernando Matías Arias y Saavedra, obtained the power of the King to build some salt pans. Its factory began around 1681 in the Gran Tajal marsh, but they should not have been concluded since in 1700 the Cabildo declared "... there are no salinas on the island but only some puddle that little salt collects ...".
Subsequently, the Territorial Lord, D. Francisco Bautista de Lugo y Saavedra, taking refuge in the Royal faculty granted to his ancestor, opened some salt pans in La Hondurilla, south of Caleta de Fustes.
In the S. In the twentieth century, new salt flats were built: those of El Carmen in 1910; those of El Matorral (Jandía) and El Marrajo (south of the island of Lobos), around 1935; and those of El Charco, (Puerto del Rosario) in 1940.
The only ones that are preserved today are the Salinas de El Carmen, which have given their name to the village in which they are located.
The salt flower of the Salinas del Carmen, of Fuerteventura, made by Proasur SL, has been chosen as the best production of the III Agrocanarias 2020 Official Marine Salt Contest (Best Agrocanarias Sea Salt and Best Canary Islands Marine Salt).
This was announced at a press conference by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Government of the Canary Islands, Alicia Vanoostende, and the director of the Canarian Institute of Agrifood Quality (ICCA), Basilio Pérez.
This contest, developed by the Canarian Institute of Agrifood Quality (ICCA) and attached to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Canary Islands Government, had the participation of ten salt samples corresponding to five companies on the islands.
An evaluation committee made up of 10 components, technicians, members of the Canary Islands restaurant and hospitality industry, gave their scores to the different participating samples.
By category, the winners were the following: in the 'Salt Flower' category, the great gold medal went to the Salinas de Tenefé, in Gran Canaria, prepared by BRC Infraestructuras Hidráulicas SL; the silver medal in Flor de Sal Janubio, from Lanzarote, made by Salinas de Janubio SL.
In the category of 'Virgin Marine Salt', the gold medal went to the Salinas de Bocacangrejo, in Gran Canaria, prepared by Martell Lozano SL .; and the Silver Medal for the Salinas del Carmen, Fuerteventura, prepared by Proasur SL.
In the section of special distinctions of the jury, the Salinas de Tenefé won the award for the "Best innovation, image and presentation 2020".
The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Government of the Canary Islands, Alicia Vanoostende, who highlighted the work of the ICCA and that of its technical team in its mission to value all Canarian productions, congratulated "all the salinas that were presented to the competition for this commitment they make to improve their quality and presentation, fundamental aspects to have a good defence of the market against other products ”.
Along these lines, he highlighted the importance of salt, not only from a gastronomic point of view, but also the role of salt flats "as part of our coastal landscape that we must protect and give economic activity to make them profitable and sustainable" .
"Work is being done very well in the salt flats of the Canary Islands, recovering these places that are so important to us," he said. The regional manager of the area highlighted the holding of this type of contest that "provides an added bonus to the participating products."
For his part, the director of the ICCA, Basilio Pérez, congratulated all the salt flats and pointed out “the importance of these quality awards to improve the commercialization of the product and strengthen a sector with a great historical connection in our islands from the point of view of economic, cultural and economic view ”.
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