APULICA / FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND PULSES
Longobardi violet aubergine
Slow Food Presidium · Fruit, vegetables and pulses · Calabria
In brief
- A local variety from Longobardi on the Tyrrhenian coast of Cosenza province, called milingiana violetta in dialect. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Melanzana violetta di Longobardi)
- The fruit is elongated, deep purple fading to white near the stem; the flesh is firm, with little water and few seeds. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Melanzana violetta di Longobardi)
- The typical preparation is aubergine in oil: slices salted, pressed, soaked in vinegar and covered with oil, oregano and chilli. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Melanzana violetta di Longobardi)
History and origin
Longobardi is a small village on the hills of the Cosenza Tyrrhenian coast, between Fiumefreddo Bruzio and Belmonte Calabro, in an area that climbs quickly from the shore to the 1,541 metres of Monte Cocuzzo. This range of altitudes has given the town a rich farming tradition that brings together products of plain, hill and mountain: old wheats such as Carosella and Senatore Cappelli, old vineyards of Greco and Gaglioppo, olive trees and vegetable gardens.
Among the vegetables the violet aubergine stands out, in dialect milingiana violetta 'de Luanguvardi. It once grew in every family garden and was known beyond the local market. Rural depopulation and the arrival of commercial hybrids then reduced its cultivation.
In 2018 the Municipality protected it with a municipal designation (De.Co.), together with the Piro bean and other local traditions, and created the "Violetta d'oro" award. In 2025 the variety was entered in Calabria's regional register of agricultural biodiversity, and it is now also a Slow Food Presidium.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Melanzana violetta di Longobardi · Comune di Longobardi — Longobardi tra mito, leggenda e storia · ARSAC — Registro regionale della biodiversità agraria della Calabria
Area and method of production
The violet aubergine is grown only in the municipality of Longobardi. The plant can reach a metre and a half in height and grows upright, held by stakes of wood, iron or string; the leaves are green and spineless, the flowers large and violet.
Picking is by hand and begins 60-90 days after transplanting. It continues in stages from the end of June to early November, and with careful pruning can go on until the first cold weather.
Today it is looked after by small farmers and seed keepers, together with local restaurateurs and associations, who are committed to agroecological growing and a short supply chain. The regional register rates it at high risk of genetic erosion and also keeps its seed at ARSAC's Molarotta experimental centre in the Sila.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Melanzana violetta di Longobardi · ARSAC — Registro regionale della biodiversità agraria della Calabria
How to recognise it
The fruit is elongated and club-shaped, with smooth, thin, shiny skin. Its colour is an intense violet fading to white near the calyx, which makes it easy to recognise.
The flesh is greenish white, firm and not spongy, with little water and few seeds. It is the raw material of the town's most typical preparation, aubergine in oil.
The fresh aubergine is available from June to November, while the version in oil can be found all year. The Municipality also notes a curiosity: according to the art historian Carlo Pedretti, an aubergine appears in a Leonardo drawing in the Codex Atlanticus.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Melanzana violetta di Longobardi · Comune di Longobardi — Longobardi tra mito, leggenda e storia
In the kitchen
The Longobardi violet lends itself to many uses, but its most typical preparation is milingiana sutt'uagliu, aubergine in oil. Ripe aubergines are chosen, washed, peeled and sliced; then they are salted and left to rest for about twelve hours.
After a first squeeze they spend a few hours in vinegar, are squeezed again and packed into glass jars covered with extra virgin olive oil, with local spices such as oregano and chilli.
Aubergines in oil are listed among Calabria's traditional food products, as are aubergine rolls, stuffed aubergines and aubergine fritters. The Longobardi violet has also featured in workshops devoted to Calabrian Presidia, paired with oil from centuries-old olive trees.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Melanzana violetta di Longobardi · ARSAC (Regione Calabria) — I prodotti DOP, IGP e PAT della Calabria · ARSAC — La Calabria a Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2026
Where to taste it
The violet aubergine is tasted in Longobardi, a village overlooking the Tyrrhenian coast of Cosenza province a few kilometres from Amantea and Paola, where the land passes in a short space from the shore to the old village and the mountain. The harvest season runs from June to November, and the version in oil is found all year round.
The town has also linked the aubergine to festive occasions: in 2018 the event "Longobardi: Paese di San Nicola Saggio & della Melanzana Violetta" hosted the presentation of the De.Co. dishes and the first Violetta d'oro award.
Longobardi also lies within the production areas of other protected products of the coast, such as the Cipolla Rossa di Tropea Calabria and Liquirizia di Calabria: a route on the Cosenza Tyrrhenian coast between Amantea, Belmonte Calabro and Fiumefreddo Bruzio brings together vegetable gardens, olive groves and the sea.
Sources: Comune di Longobardi — Longobardi tra mito, leggenda e storia · Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Melanzana violetta di Longobardi · Consorzio di Tutela della Cipolla Rossa di Tropea Calabria IGP — Il territorio · ARSAC — Liquirizia di Calabria DOP
Protection
- Slow Food Presidium — melanzana-violetta-di-longobardi (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Melanzana violetta di Longobardi)
When
- Harvest: June–November (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Melanzana violetta di Longobardi)
- Summer
- Autumn
Where
Read more
Longobardi violet aubergine
A Slow Food Presidium on the Cosenza Tyrrhenian coast: a long, glossy aubergine grown upright, its preserve in oil and a day around Longobardi, Belmonte and Fiumefreddo.
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