APULICA / FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND PULSES
Traditional citrus of Palagiano
Slow Food Presidium · Fruit, vegetables and pulses · Puglia
In brief
- Historic citrus groves in Palagiano, on the Ionian coast near Taranto, tied to the water of the lame, shallow karst channels at the end of the ravines. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Agrumi tradizionali di Palagiano)
- Many groves date from the 1951 land reform, when plots given to farm labourers were planted with Avana mandarins and later Comune clementines, grafted onto bitter orange. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Agrumi tradizionali di Palagiano)
- The old groves still hold heirloom varieties such as Marzaiolo mandarin, Tarocco Dal Muso, Vaniglia orange and Femminello lemon; chemical weedkillers are not allowed. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Agrumi tradizionali di Palagiano)
- For over fifty years the town has held a festival devoted to the mandarin. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Agrumi tradizionali di Palagiano)
History and origin
Palagiano, on the Ionian arc in the province of Taranto, is a town of citrus groves. Its gardens are tied to the water of the lame, the karst channels that close the gravine ravines.
Many groves were planted after the 1951 land reform: the land assigned to farm labourers was planted first with Avana mandarins and then with Comune clementines, grafted onto sour orange. The reform also gave farmers the water resources they needed, and from then on citrus became the main crop of the whole Gulf of Taranto.
Today the Slow Food Presidium protects the town's historic citrus groves, where old varieties survive alongside mandarins and clementines, and Palagiano has celebrated the mandarin with a festival for more than fifty years.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Agrumi tradizionali di Palagiano · Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Clementine del Golfo di Taranto IGP
Area and method of production
As throughout the Gulf of Taranto clementine area, Palagiano's citrus groves lie on flat, fertile, deep and well-drained land, in a warm, sunny and fairly dry climate that favours the growth and ripening of the fruit. Chemical weedkillers are not allowed in the Presidium's groves.
Picking is by hand, with scissors, taking care not to damage the fruit. The calendar varies with the variety: Comune clementines have the longest season, while other varieties come earlier as first fruits. Overall, Palagiano's citrus season runs from December into late spring, until May.
Palagiano also lies within the production area of the Clementine del Golfo di Taranto PGI, together with Massafra, Ginosa, Castellaneta, Palagianello, Taranto and Statte.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Agrumi tradizionali di Palagiano · Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Clementine del Golfo di Taranto IGP
How to recognise it
The charm of Palagiano's traditional citrus groves lies in their variety. In the old gardens Avana mandarins and Comune clementines grow alongside old varieties such as the Marzaiolo mandarin, the Tarocco Dal Muso and Vaniglia oranges and the Femminello lemon.
The area's clementines are round, slightly flattened at the ends, with smooth or slightly rough orange skin and flesh almost always free of seeds; the aroma is intense and lasting, the taste sweet and fragrant.
The mandarin, star of the town's festival, is the fruit with which land reform began to transform this countryside.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Agrumi tradizionali di Palagiano · Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Clementine del Golfo di Taranto IGP
In the kitchen
The area's clementines are eaten above all fresh, as they are: they are refreshing and rich in vitamin C, and the town's citrus season spans winter and spring.
They are also used for juices, syrups, sorbets and marmalades, and keep in the fridge for weeks. Alongside them, the Femminello lemons and old oranges of the historic gardens offer different fragrances for home cooking.
Tasting an Avana mandarin, a Comune clementine and a Vaniglia orange in turn is a simple way to discover the variety of these groves.
Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Clementine del Golfo di Taranto IGP · Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Agrumi tradizionali di Palagiano
Where to taste it
Citrus fruits are found in Palagiano and on the plain that slopes down to the sea, between the inland gravine and the Ionian coast. The right time is winter, when the trees are laden with fruit, and the mandarin festival, held by the town for over half a century, is the occasion to meet them in their setting.
Palagiano is a short distance from Castellaneta and Taranto: visitors to the gravine or the city of the two seas can add a stop among the citrus groves. The whole area as far as Massafra, Ginosa and Palagianello belongs to the territory of the Gulf of Taranto clementines.
On Puglia's Ionian side, winter has the colour and scent of citrus.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Agrumi tradizionali di Palagiano · Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Clementine del Golfo di Taranto IGP
Protection
- Slow Food Presidium — agrumi-tradizionali-di-palagiano (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Agrumi tradizionali di Palagiano)
When
- Harvest: January–May, December (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Agrumi tradizionali di Palagiano)
- Winter
- Spring