The Process
Salt from Xwejni is harvested once a week, roughly between the summer months of mid-May up till the beginning of September, if the weather permits. The weather plays a crucial part in every single harvest, hot, sunny days are the perfect weather for the salt harvesting process. Meanwhile, stormy and rainy days disrupt the salt process and no salt is collected. After every harvest, each salt pan is manually and individually filled with water through the use of a motor pump from the big pools to the small pans, then they are left to dry for about 7 days and the salt crystals start to form. Due to the water being already highly concentrated in the big pools, the salt process happens much quicker resulting in a fresh collection every week.
With the use of brooms and brushes with thick bristles, the salt from each pan is swept and gathered into small heaps and placed in buckets. These buckets are then transferred to a flat drying surface and a big heap of salt is formed, covered in cloths and left to dry for about 24 hours. Once it is dry, the next day the salt is packed into 30-kilogram bags and stored. The salt is now ready to be packaged and no further processes are done. It is ready to be consumed and added to your delicious meals, which are not complete without Leli's salt from Xwejni.
Click the link below, to immerse yourself with nature, meet the family and learn about our love for our trade. Beautifully filmed and coordinated by the immensely talented Tim Lewis, @timlewis77 on Instagram, go show him some love!