La Bella della Daunia

History and origin

The Bella di Cerignola is a table olive of disputed origin. Some authors trace it back to the Orchites olives of the Romans, others believe it came from Spain before the fifteenth century, in the Aragonese period. Since it was never among the native varieties of the Iberian peninsula, however, it can be considered native to the Cerignola countryside, in ancient Daunia, today the Tavoliere delle Puglie.

At first it was processed mainly for household use, but it soon became an important trade. By the end of the nineteenth century olives cured in Cerignola were leaving for the east coast of the United States, shipped in wooden barrels of 50-100 kilos, the vascidd, and in small truncated-cone containers of 5-10 kilos, the cugnett, which helped spread them almost family to family. Around 1920 emigration took them to California too, and in 1930 a technical committee named the olive among the best Italian table cultivars for green olives.

Studies by the University of Bari and the Parma experimental station followed, and in 2000 the name La Bella della Daunia was registered in Europe as a PDO. The protection consortium, founded in 2002, oversees and promotes it.

Sources: Consorzio di tutela La Bella della Daunia DOP — La nostra storia · Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — La Bella della Daunia DOP

Area and method of production

The production area includes parts of the territories of Cerignola, Orta Nova, Stornarella and Trinitapoli and the whole of Stornara and San Ferdinando di Puglia, across the provinces of Foggia and Barletta-Andria-Trani: this is the great plain of the Tavoliere, at an average altitude of 100-150 metres. All the olives come from the Bella di Cerignola variety.

Harvest begins in early October and is done by hand, with sheets spread under the trees so that the fruit does not touch the ground; irrigation is stopped two weeks beforehand to avoid bruising. The olives reach the farm in crates and are processed at once, after being sorted by size and ripeness.

The greenest follow the Seville method: an 8-15 hour treatment with a sodium solution removes the bitterness, followed by rinsing and at least thirty days of fermentation in salted water. The riper ones are turned black with the Californian method: brine, sweetening, oxidation with air and colour fixing with ferrous gluconate. The changing-colour olives, finally, follow the natural method and stay in brine for at least six months. The olives may be whole, cracked, slit or pitted.

Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — La Bella della Daunia DOP · Consorzio di tutela La Bella della Daunia DOP — Il processo produttivo · Consorzio di tutela La Bella della Daunia DOP — Curiosità (zona di produzione)

How to recognise it

La Bella della Daunia is recognised by its size: it is a large olive of up to thirty grams, elongated like a plum, with abundant flesh. It is prized for its thickness, firmness and resistance to handling and storage.

It comes in three types. The green, processed by the Seville method, is green tending to straw-yellow, with crisp, tasty flesh and a delicate flavour. The black, made with the Californian method, has flesh of medium firmness and a delicate taste. The changing-colour olive, left to ripen longer and preserved naturally, takes on a colour ranging from mustard to brown.

In shops it is sold as La Bella della Daunia DOP Verde, Cangiante or Nera, in glass jars, tins or plastic containers. Glass and tin packs are pasteurised or sterilised and keep their qualities for up to three years. The taste is full and savoury, so much so that the olive is enjoyed on its own, with nothing else.

Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — La Bella della Daunia DOP · Consorzio di tutela La Bella della Daunia DOP — Il processo produttivo · Consorzio di tutela La Bella della Daunia DOP — Curiosità (zona di produzione)

In the kitchen

The consortium calls it the queen of aperitifs, and the reason is simple: La Bella della Daunia is ready to eat without cooking, tastes pleasant and keeps well. It is the olive to serve just as it is, alongside a drink, or to offer as a snack.

These same qualities make it suitable for many quick and digestible preparations: it enriches starters and side dishes, and the consortium suggests recipes that also bring it into pasta and main courses. One can choose between the green, crisp and tasty, the black, with softer flesh and a delicate taste, and the changing-colour olive, cured naturally.

The designation's profile considers it one of the typical products of the Mediterranean diet, and the specification allows it to be sold whole, cracked, slit or pitted, to suit different uses in the kitchen.

Sources: Consorzio di tutela La Bella della Daunia DOP — Ricette · Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — La Bella della Daunia DOP · Consorzio di tutela La Bella della Daunia DOP — Curiosità (zona di produzione)

Where to taste it

La Bella della Daunia comes from the Tavoliere delle Puglie, the great plain of ancient Daunia, around Cerignola, Orta Nova, Stornarella, Stornara, Trinitapoli and San Ferdinando di Puglia. Cerignola gives the variety its name and is the historic centre of its processing and trade, from which barrels were already leaving for America in the nineteenth century.

Autumn is the season to experience: hand-picking starts in early October and processing begins immediately afterwards, while packed olives are available all year. PDO packs state the type, Verde, Cangiante or Nera, and are the sign of the authentic product.

A trip to this part of Puglia crosses the flat countryside of the Tavoliere, at around a hundred metres above sea level; tasting Cerignola olives as an aperitif, in the towns where they grow, is the most direct way to get to know them.

Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — La Bella della Daunia DOP · Consorzio di tutela La Bella della Daunia DOP — Curiosità (zona di produzione) · Consorzio di tutela La Bella della Daunia DOP — La nostra storia

Protection

• Protected designation of origin (PDO) — PDO-IT-0085 (eAmbrosia — La Bella della Daunia (PDO-IT-0085))

When

• The sources consulted give no months.

Where

Puglia