APULICA / FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND PULSES
Atessa dried reale fig
Slow Food Presidium · Fruit, vegetables and pulses · Abruzzo
In brief
- A reale-variety fig dried on the hills of Atessa, Torino di Sangro, Archi, Perano and Paglieta, in the province of Chieti. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Fico secco reale di Atessa)
- The figs are picked by hand early in the morning and dried in the sun on cane racks, brought in each evening. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Fico secco reale di Atessa)
- Once dried they are stuffed with a walnut half, briefly baked and stored with bay leaves; they go on sale after 4 October. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Fico secco reale di Atessa)
History and origin
Atessa, in the hills of the province of Chieti, has a history going back to Roman times, and archaeological digs have shown how old its bond with the fig is. The reale variety, ideal for drying, has been prized for at least two centuries.
Some historians report that in 1320 Robert of Anjou, who ruled the area of Chieti and Lanciano, imposed duties on the dried figs of Atessa traded by sea: a sign of the product's commercial weight.
The figs of Atessa had a lively market until about forty years ago. In the 1970s and 1980s industrial growth in the Val di Sangro put farming under strain, and today a small group of young people has chosen to take up growing and processing again. Organised in an association, they are supported by the Slow Food Presidium.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Fico secco reale di Atessa
Area and method of production
The area is the hill country of the municipalities of Atessa, Torino di Sangro, Archi, Perano and Paglieta, in the province of Chieti. Reale figs with both white and red flesh are dried, picked between mid-August and the end of September depending on the season.
The fruit is picked one by one by hand in the early morning, turned gently so as not to damage the stalk. It is then laid on cannizzi, racks of small canes tied together, either whole or cut in half without separating the two sides. By day the figs stay in the sun under a net against insects; in the evening they are taken in somewhere dry and sheltered. This is repeated for several days until they are dry but still soft.
They are then opened, filled with a walnut half, closed again and baked for about ten minutes. Once cool they are stored in the dark with bay leaves. The protocol rules out chemical weedkillers and synthetic fertilisers and sets sales from 4 October.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Fico secco reale di Atessa
How to recognise it
The fresh reale fig is slightly round, with a pale yellow-green skin and very juicy flesh with a honeyed taste.
Once dried, the Atessa fig must stay soft to the touch. If it has been cut, the two halves stay joined, and inside there is the walnut half added before baking. The bay leaves it is stored with give it a light fragrance.
There is also a date to remember: under the producers' rules the dried fig goes on sale only after 4 October each year.
Both white-fleshed and red-fleshed figs are dried, all of the reale variety.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Fico secco reale di Atessa
In the kitchen
The walnut-filled fig is enjoyed just as it is, as a simple sweet for autumn and winter.
In the kitchen it goes into many recipes: biscuits, cakes and jams, but also breads and meat and fish dishes, where the sweetness of the fruit meets savoury flavours.
Because it keeps for a long time, in the dark and with bay leaves, it has long been a store of sweetness in country homes, and it is still a versatile ingredient for cooks today.
The reale variety, with its honeyed flesh, has been valued for centuries precisely because it lends itself to drying.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Fico secco reale di Atessa
Where to taste it
The figs are produced on the hills of Atessa, Torino di Sangro, Archi, Perano and Paglieta, in the Val di Sangro in the province of Chieti.
The most interesting time to visit is late summer, when the figs are picked and laid out to dry on the cannizzi, while the finished product is available after 4 October.
Torino di Sangro looks onto the Adriatic, and the production area links easily with a route along the Trabocchi coast and into the hills of the Chieti hinterland.
The Presidium producers are organised in an association and process both figs from their own trees and those brought in by other local farmers.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Fico secco reale di Atessa
Protection
- Slow Food Presidium — fico-secco-reale-di-atessa (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Fico secco reale di Atessa)
When
- Harvest: August–September (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Fico secco reale di Atessa)
- Summer
- Autumn