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APULICA / FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND PULSES

Fucino plateau carrot

PGI · Fruit, vegetables and pulses · Abruzzo

Apulica editorial team · Sources checked:

In brief

History and origin

The carrot has distant origins: the plant comes from temperate regions and is traced back to Afghanistan, while the Greeks and Romans were the first to cultivate it. In the Fucino, however, its story is recent and coincides with that of the landscape itself.

Until 1870 the great basin was covered by Lake Fucino. Once the lake was drained, its bed became farmland and the carrot spread there; open-field cultivation in the reclaimed area began in 1950.

Today the Carota dell'Altopiano del Fucino is a Protected Geographical Indication registered in the European Union, and it is protected by a consortium dedicated to the vegetables of the plateau.

Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Carota dell'Altopiano del Fucino IGP · eAmbrosia — Carota dell'Altopiano del Fucino (PGI-IT-0270)

Area and method of production

The production area is the Fucino plateau, a basin of about 14,000 hectares ringed by high Apennine peaks, in the province of L'Aquila. The soils, at around 700 metres, are young and fertile, rich in humus formed over millennia from organic matter laid down on the lake bed.

The specification allows a defined list of varieties. The ground is prepared by ploughing, harrowing and rolling; sowing, between February and April, is done by machine only, to spread the seed evenly. Hoeing and earthing up follow. Irrigation must be frequent but not heavy, and in summer it is done only at night so as not to harm the young plants.

Carrots are lifted in the first hours of sunlight. Harvesting is possible all year round, but the best produce comes from June to October. Within four hours the carrots must reach the washing and packing centre, where they are chilled and processed at once.

Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Carota dell'Altopiano del Fucino IGP

How to recognise it

The Fucino carrot is cylindrical with a rounded tip and free of root hairs. Its colour is an even, intense orange that reaches right up to the crown.

The flesh is crisp and glassy when snapped, and the taste is sweet. According to the product description, the rich soil of the old lake bed contributes to a good vitamin and protein content.

It is sold fresh in wooden, cardboard or plastic packaging with the PGI label, and it keeps fairly well in a cool place. Processed products made from this carrot are also available.

Carrots meant for storage are lifted only when fully grown, respecting the variety's timing and the season's weather, so that they keep their quality and flavour for longer.

Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Carota dell'Altopiano del Fucino IGP

In the kitchen

It can be eaten raw after lightly scraping the surface, or in salads, cut into strips, rounds or julienne. It goes well with green herbs, tomatoes, radicchio, apples and oranges.

Cooked, it goes into purées and vegetable soups, accompanies roasts and savoury bakes, and can be prepared with butter, with oil or in a pan with broccoli.

It is rich in carotenes, which the body uses to make vitamin A, and for this reason it is also used in juices.

Sweet and crisp, the Fucino carrot works both raw and cooked, and it accompanies everyday cooking in every season.

Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Carota dell'Altopiano del Fucino IGP

Where to taste it

The carrot comes from the Fucino plateau in the province of L'Aquila: a broad cultivated plain at about 700 metres where the lake once lay, enclosed by high Apennine mountains.

The richest period is June to October, when the harvest gives the best produce, although carrots are lifted all year.

Crossing the Fucino plain means seeing a farming landscape born of the lake's reclamation, with orderly fields on the floor of the old basin. It is a stop that fits well between L'Aquila, the Marsica and the Abruzzo National Park.

From the fields the carrots reach the local washing and packing centres within four hours, and leave from there fresh, in packaging bearing the PGI label.

Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Carota dell'Altopiano del Fucino IGP

Protection

When

Where

Abruzzo