APULICA / FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND PULSES
Carciofo di Paestum (artichoke)
PGI · Fruit, vegetables and pulses · Campania
In brief
- It is the Romanesco artichoke of the local Tondo di Paestum ecotype, spineless with violet tinges. (Qualigeo — Carciofo di Paestum IGP)
- It is grown in 14 municipalities of the Sele plain in the province of Salerno, from Battipaglia to Capaccio and Agropoli. (Qualigeo — Carciofo di Paestum IGP)
- It is harvested from 1 February to 20 May, in cool, rainy weather. (Qualigeo — Carciofo di Paestum IGP)
- Recorded around Eboli and Capaccio as early as 1811, it spread after the land reclamation of 1929-30. (Qualigeo — Carciofo di Paestum IGP)
History and origin
Artichokes have long been part of Campania's cooking and rural life, and in the Sele plain their history is documented. As early as 1811 the statistical office of the Bourbon kingdom recorded them around Evoli, today's Eboli, and Capaccio.
The first specialised fields were planted next to the temples of Paestum by farmers from the Naples area, who brought offshoots of their own ecotypes. Real expansion came around 1929-30, however, with the great land reclamation works and the agricultural transformation of the plain; since the 1970s the artichoke has been one of the area's main crops.
The name of the local ecotype, Tondo di Paestum, lives on in the denomination. The Protected Geographical Indication was granted in March 2004, right in the middle of the harvest.
Sources: Qualigeo — Carciofo di Paestum IGP · Regione Campania — Prodotti tipici: Carciofo di Paestum IGP
Area and method of production
The production area is the Sele plain, in the province of Salerno, in the municipalities of Agropoli, Albanella, Altavilla Silentina, Battipaglia, Bellizzi, Campagna, Capaccio, Cicerale, Eboli, Giungano, Montecorvino Pugliano, Ogliastro Cilento, Pontecagnano Faiano and Serre.
The specification states that an artichoke field may stay in production for no more than three years. Growers transplant either seedlings with a root ball, between 15 July and 31 August, or offshoots taken from mother plants, during September.
Harvest runs from 1 February to 20 May, with an oblique cut of the stem. The heads are sorted and washed following local practice, and storage at controlled temperature may not exceed 72 hours. The plain's cool, rainy climate during the long harvest season gives the artichoke its tenderness.
Sources: Qualigeo — Carciofo di Paestum IGP · Regione Campania — Prodotti tipici: Carciofo di Paestum IGP
How to recognise it
The Carciofo di Paestum belongs to the Romanesco group, and its rounded look, compactness and lack of thorns are the traits that made its name. The heads are almost spherical and compact, with a hole at the top, thornless, green with violet-pink shading.
Size is medium: no more than four heads with stem per kilogram, and a stalk shorter than ten centimetres. The receptacle is fleshy, full-flavoured and delicate at the same time.
Earliness is another hallmark: the Sele plain allows this artichoke to reach the market among the first of its type. It is sold in rigid containers holding from two to twenty-four heads, from February to May.
Sources: Qualigeo — Carciofo di Paestum IGP · Regione Campania — Prodotti tipici: Carciofo di Paestum IGP
In the kitchen
It is excellent fresh, but also at its best grilled over embers, boiled, or dipped in batter and fried. To keep it for a few days, remove the tougher outer leaves and the stem and store it in a closed container somewhere cool.
In the Sele plain it features in many local recipes: pizza with small artichokes, artichoke cream and artichoke pasticcio, dishes that visitors to the temples of Paestum are happy to find on the table.
As the sources point out, it is an ingredient of the Mediterranean diet that has always been part of Campania's food culture. Fresh, it is available from 1 February to May, the right time to enjoy it.
Sources: Qualigeo — Carciofo di Paestum IGP · Regione Campania — Prodotti tipici: Carciofo di Paestum IGP
Where to taste it
The season to look for it runs from February to May in the towns of the Sele plain, from Battipaglia and Eboli to Capaccio Paestum and Agropoli, at the gateway to the Cilento.
Capaccio Paestum devotes a spring festival to the artichoke: the Festa del Carciofo di Paestum, whose editions, with tastings and talks on the Mediterranean diet, are reported by the Qualivita Foundation.
It is a fine reason to combine a visit to the Greek temples of Paestum with a taste of the produce grown in the fields all around, then carry on into the Cilento, where Cicerale, also inside the PGI area, is known for its chickpeas too.
Sources: Qualigeo — Carciofo di Paestum IGP · Regione Campania — Prodotti tipici: Carciofo di Paestum IGP · Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Cece di Cicerale
Protection
- Protected geographical indication (PGI) — PGI-IT-0226 (eAmbrosia — Carciofo di Paestum (PGI-IT-0226))
When
- Harvest: February–May (Qualigeo — Carciofo di Paestum IGP)
- Winter
- Spring