This summer I’ve come to a campsite in western Salamanca to design experiences for its campers, travellers staying in rural accommodation, or simply those exploring this area with a curiosity for gastronomy. https://campingarribesdelduero.com/ del oeste salmantino a diseñar experiencias pensadas para sus campistas, viajeros alojados en casas rurales o simplemente los que recorren esta zona con curiosidad gastronómica.
And the more time I spend here, the clearer it becomes: there are few better places to showcase the full gastronomic potential of this part of the province.
Because at a campsite, people are in a different mindset.
More relaxed, in less of a hurry, and with time to do things they wouldn’t normally do in their everyday routine.
And that’s where I think gastronomy becomes especially interesting: not as just another activity, but as a way of telling the story of a place through what people eat and drink
And in Salamanca, there is certainly a lot to tell.
We have organic olive oil from a small local mill, artisan breads made by the latest generations of bakers, honey, wines from the Sierra de Salamanca DO, and also wines from Arribes, both from the Salamanca and Zamora sides of the region.
I say Arribes in general because not all of these wines belong to a denomination of origin, and that does nothing to diminish their value or their appeal.
Quite the opposite: very often, that is where the real richness lies — in small projects, singular productions, and ways of making wine that deserve to be noticed and appreciated.
With that in mind, I designed three experiences for this place and for this kind of audience: wine and ice cream, wine and local products, and bread and olive oil.
No snobbery.
No unnecessary technical language.
No turning a tasting into a lecture.
Just tasting, asking questions, discovering, and understanding a little better what lies behind each product, who makes it, and why it is worth paying attention to.
What interests me most about this project is precisely that: taking artisan products out of their usual spaces and bringing them into others where they also make perfect sense.
A place where there is time, curiosity, and a willingness to be surprised.
Because talking about craftsmanship is also talking about place, identity, and Salamanca’s gastronomy.
About small producers, breads, honey, olive oil, and wines that tell the story of this land from many different corners — from the Sierra de Salamanca to Arribes.
So that anyone who comes to spend a few days in western Salamanca takes away not only rest, but also a much clearer sense of all the good things we have here.
Because sometimes all it takes is the right setting to discover everything a place has to tell.
And in western Salamanca, every product is also a way of telling the story of the territory.
🙂 The guiding phrase behind my project, Season Your Journey, through experiences like this one: because tasting is travelling.
