APULICA / FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND PULSES
Nicastro pink garlic
Slow Food Presidium · Fruit, vegetables and pulses · Calabria
In brief
- Garlic from Nicastro and Lamezia Terme in the province of Catanzaro, with rounded white cloves veined with pink. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Aglio rosa di Nicastro)
- Its aroma is strong and lasts up to a year, but its taste is mild; it is braided and dried. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Aglio rosa di Nicastro)
- It is the star of the Saints Peter and Paul fair, which a Bourbon decree extended from three to five days in 1826. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Aglio rosa di Nicastro)
History and origin
The Nicastro area has always been known for its fertile land, devoted above all to vegetables. As early as the Bourbon era the fair of Saints Peter and Paul was the moment to show off the richness of these harvests, and pink garlic took the leading role. The fair became so important that a Bourbon decree of 1826 extended it from three days to five.
Nicastro is today one of the three historic cores of Lamezia Terme, together with Sambiase and Sant'Eufemia Lamezia, towns that enjoyed their finest period in the Middle Ages.
The Slow Food Presidium was born from the will of a few small growers who, year after year, kept selecting the best bulbs to preserve and reproduce a garlic handed down for over a century, with the support of the Calabria Region through the «Presidiamo la Calabria» project.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Aglio rosa di Nicastro · Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Lametia DOP, storia del territorio di Lamezia
Area and method of production
The production area covers Lamezia Terme and Nicastro, in the province of Catanzaro. The cycle follows the farming calendar: cultivation begins in autumn, when the cloves kept from the previous year's harvest are planted in carefully prepared and fertilised soil.
The harvest comes in June, when the leaves begin to dry. The plants are then braided into the typical plaits and left to dry.
Replanting the best cloves year after year is at the heart of the Presidium growers' work: this continuous selection is what has kept pink garlic's character intact for over a century, and what now allows it to become known beyond its home area.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Aglio rosa di Nicastro
How to recognise it
Nicastro pink garlic has medium-sized, roundish cloves, white with pink veins, gathered in bulbs sold in plaits. Its most prized feature is a contrast: the aroma is intense and lingering and stays so for up to a year after harvest, while on the palate the garlic is delicate.
This delicacy is what guides its use in the kitchen. Slow Food notes that it is used to enhance the flavour of dishes and, in small amounts, in making cured meats.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Aglio rosa di Nicastro
Where to taste it
The right place to look for pink garlic is the fair of Saints Peter and Paul in Nicastro, in the historic heart of Lamezia Terme. Despite the difficulties the crop has faced, at the historic fair it can still be bought straight from the few farmers who grow it, just as a couple of centuries ago, when garlic plaits were the fair's symbol.
Lamezia is also home to Lametia PDO extra virgin olive oil, made mostly from Carolea olives: those who come for the garlic can discover another local product in the same countryside, and visit the city's three historic cores, Nicastro, Sambiase and Sant'Eufemia.
The Presidium growers aim to make it known and appreciated beyond its home area, but tasting it here, at the fair, remains the experience closest to its history.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Aglio rosa di Nicastro · Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Lametia DOP, storia del territorio di Lamezia
Protection
- Slow Food Presidium — aglio-rosa-di-nicastro (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Aglio rosa di Nicastro)
When
- Harvest: June (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Aglio rosa di Nicastro)
- Summer