APULICA / FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND PULSES
Fara Filiorum Petri white onion
Slow Food Presidium · PAT · Fruit, vegetables and pulses · Abruzzo
In brief
- A flat, sweet and aromatic white onion, called piattona, from Fara Filiorum Petri in the Foro valley, province of Chieti. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Cipolla bianca di Fara Filiorum Petri)
- Tradition says the monks of the Sant'Eufemia convent were already growing it in the 14th century. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Cipolla bianca di Fara Filiorum Petri)
- The village celebrates it on the first weekend of August; it is the base of cipollata, slow-cooked in an earthenware pot. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Cipolla bianca di Fara Filiorum Petri)
- It is on Abruzzo's list of traditional products. (Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026))
History and origin
Fara Filiorum Petri is a village of ancient origin in the heart of Abruzzo, at the gates of the Majella park. Its name, of Lombard origin, means land of the sons of Peter. Three rivers cross the municipality, among them the Foro, which gives its name to the Val di Foro, of which the village is the main centre.
According to tradition, as early as the fourteenth century the monks of the convent of Sant'Eufemia grew in their gardens an onion with an unusual shape and flavour. Over time the variety adapted to the local clay soils, so much so that the people of Fara were nicknamed cipollari, the onion growers.
For a time the original variety was lost. Recently farmers managed to recover the seed thanks to the last grower who still kept it, and the Slow Food Presidium supports their work. The onion is also on the national list of traditional food products for Abruzzo.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Cipolla bianca di Fara Filiorum Petri · Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026)
Area and method of production
The production area is the municipal territory of Fara Filiorum Petri, in the province of Chieti. The Presidium aims to increase quantities gradually and to bring back into use the municipality's alluvial, well-watered land, the best suited to this onion.
The producers' protocol requires low-impact farming: no chemical weedkillers, manure as fertiliser and agronomic practices that keep pests down without chemical treatments.
Water also has a place in local lore. It is said that farmers, to make sure the plants never went thirsty, threw water over them with a shovel, and that the force of the splash flattened the bulb, making it grow wider rather than taller. The harvest is in summer and the onion is available from the end of July.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Cipolla bianca di Fara Filiorum Petri
How to recognise it
Its nickname says a lot: locally it is called piattona, the flat one, because the bulb is broad and squat. The skin is white and the flavour sweet and aromatic.
It comes in different forms depending on the time of year. Spring onions and onions for eating fresh are sold tied in bunches, while storage onions are found braided or loose.
Its bond with the village is close: it is regarded as the signature product of Fara Filiorum Petri and an important resource for its farming economy.
According to tradition, the flattened shape comes from the large amount of water the plant needs: a trait that ties the onion's look to the village's alluvial land.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Cipolla bianca di Fara Filiorum Petri
In the kitchen
It is eaten raw in salads, or cooked as a side for chicken-liver dishes. A traditional way to cook it is over embers under the coppo, a lid placed on top of the grill.
The dish most closely tied to the village is the cipollata: freshly harvested onions cooked slowly in an earthenware pot until soft and sweet. It is a simple preparation that lets the flavour of the onion speak.
In summer, when the young onions are in season, it can also be found fresh in bunches, for cooking in the days after harvest.
The onion is available from the end of July, the best time for a cipollata made with the fresh harvest.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Cipolla bianca di Fara Filiorum Petri
Where to taste it
The place to get to know it is Fara Filiorum Petri, in the Val di Foro on the Chieti side of the Majella. Here the onion grows on the alluvial land along the rivers and is sold fresh in summer.
Every year, on the first weekend of August, the village celebrates its onion with the Fara Cipollara festival, which the Presidium's producers are helping to promote.
From the Val di Foro the Majella is close by, and a visit fits well into a trip through the hinterland of the province of Chieti, between the villages of the park and the Trabocchi coast.
Outside the summer season, storage onions are available, braided or loose.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Cipolla bianca di Fara Filiorum Petri
Protection
- Slow Food Presidium — cipolla-bianca-di-fara-filiorum-petri (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Cipolla bianca di Fara Filiorum Petri)
- Traditional agri-food product (PAT) — Abruzzo, n. 55, 26th revision (Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026))