Somma cherry of the Lattari mountains

History and origin

The Lattari mountains belong to the Campanian sub-Apennines and form the central part of the Sorrento peninsula. Their name comes from the excellent milk produced on permanent meadows over volcanic soils; for centuries the hills at the foot of the mountains have been given over to vegetables and fruit, especially tomatoes, figs, walnuts and pulses.

In the countryside between Gragnano and Pimonte cherry growing is documented as early as the start of the seventeenth century, thanks to mentions by Giovanni Antonio Summonte in his Historia della città di Napoli. Here the cherry trees found especially favourable exposure and ventilation.

From the 1980s, with the spread of improved varieties, the local cherry came close to disappearing. The Slow Food Presidium tells the story of the smallholders who managed to keep it, and brings together the growers who want to safeguard this varietal heritage.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Ciliegia Somma dei Monti Lattari

Area and method of production

The production area is the countryside of Gragnano and Pimonte, in the province of Naples, on the slopes of the Lattari mountains. Gragnano lies in a mild area between mountains and sea, at the south-eastern corner of the Gulf of Naples.

There are few specialised orchards: the cherry trees almost always grow in traditional mixed plantings alongside other crops. In the area, as the regional sheet on the Pimonte cherry describes, the trees are very vigorous and picking calls for very tall ladders; harvesting, sorting and packing are done by hand.

The cherries are picked in stages from the second ten days of May to the first ten days of July. The Presidium aims to increase the cultivated area gradually and sustainably.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Ciliegia Somma dei Monti Lattari · Italia.it — Gragnano · Regione Campania — Prodotti tradizionali: Ciliegia di Pimonte

How to recognise it

The Somma of the Lattari mountains is a red cherry with a white tip, a feature that makes it recognisable at a glance. The flesh is firm and juicy and, when ripe, comes away cleanly from the stone.

The taste is intense and sweet. It is a cherry to enjoy above all fresh, during its short season between May and July.

In the same area Campania's list of traditional products also records a Pimonte cherry, a local ecotype with large, rounded fruit, dark red skin and firm flesh that barely clings to the stone, rarely grown in specialised orchards: a sign of how deeply cherry growing is rooted in these mountains.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Ciliegia Somma dei Monti Lattari · Regione Campania — Prodotti tradizionali: Ciliegia di Pimonte

Where to taste it

Look for the cherries between May and July in the villages of Gragnano and Pimonte. Local production is known throughout Campania, especially in Naples and on the Amalfi Coast.

Gragnano, known worldwide as the city of pasta, makes a good base for exploring the area: it lies on the slopes of the Lattari and keeps a tenth-century castle, the church of Santa Maria dell'Assunta, a national monument, and the Roman aqueduct of the Valle dell'Imbuto.

An early-summer trip can combine the cherry hills with a visit to Gragnano and to the Amalfi Coast, where the Lattari cherries are well known.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Ciliegia Somma dei Monti Lattari · Italia.it — Gragnano

Protection

• Slow Food Presidium — ciliegia-somma-dei-monti-lattari (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Ciliegia Somma dei Monti Lattari)

When

• Harvest: May–July (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Ciliegia Somma dei Monti Lattari)
• Spring
• Summer

Where

Campania