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Turchesa potato

Slow Food Presidium · PAT · Fruit, vegetables and pulses · Abruzzo

Apulica editorial team · Sources checked:

In brief

History and origin

Turca, turchesa or turchesca: since the eighteenth century these names have been used for the potato grown in the Abruzzo mountains. The name stresses the tuber's foreign origin, as with granoturco, the local word for maize: both came from far away, from the New World.

For the Gran Sasso communities the potato, like maize, was a source of wealth and a precious food reserve. It grew even above 1,600 metres, kept well and could be eaten at home or traded for other goods. In some villages of the L'Aquila mountains, caves and underground rooms next to the houses were used to store it after harvest and have it almost all year.

In recent decades it was replaced by more productive varieties and was at risk of disappearing. In 2001 the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park authority started a recovery project, and after some years of multiplication the tubers were handed out to farmers. It is on the list of traditional products of Abruzzo.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Patata turchesa · Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026)

Area and method of production

The production area is the inner Apennine mountains within the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park, in the provinces of L'Aquila, Teramo, Rieti and Pescara.

It is planted between March and May and harvested between late summer and October. The producers' association has about twenty members, who farm with low environmental impact.

A key part of the work is reproducing the seed tubers, done carefully under a protocol, to keep the turchesa's genetic heritage alive and to have healthy, virus-free planting material. On the pack a numeric code leads to a web page with production details, from quantities to growing method.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Patata turchesa

How to recognise it

It is recognised at once by its deep purple skin, rich in antioxidant compounds. The flesh, by contrast, is snow-white, with low water content and medium firmness and graininess, qualities that make it suitable for many uses and cooking methods.

Its shape is irregular and knobbly, with many deep-set eyes: a genetic trait typical of old varieties.

The plant has its own features too. The flowers have petals with bluish tints and stay on the plant for a long time, sometimes until November if the season allows. In favourable conditions the turchesa also sets fruit, like a small dark tomato containing the seeds.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Patata turchesa

In the kitchen

Its white flesh, low in water and of medium texture, makes the turchesa a versatile potato that suits different cooking methods.

The contrast between the purple skin and the white inside is one of its most recognisable traits, also when it reaches the table.

In the history of the Abruzzo mountains the potato was above all a store food: kept in caves and cellars, it saw families through much of the year and was traded for other staples.

The deep eyes and irregular shape typical of old varieties are noticeable when preparing it too. The harvest, between late summer and October, brings the year's crop into the kitchen.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Patata turchesa

Where to taste it

The turchesa is grown in the mountain villages of the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park, across the provinces of L'Aquila, Teramo, Rieti and Pescara, even at very high altitudes.

Autumn is harvest time, between late summer and October. The code on the pack lets you trace the producer and their method.

A visit to L'Aquila, Santo Stefano di Sessanio or the other Gran Sasso villages leads to the same uplands where potatoes were once kept in caves beside the houses: a way to connect the product with its landscape.

The potatoes are planted between March and May, and the flowers with bluish petals stay on the plants for a long time, sometimes until November.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Patata turchesa

Protection

When

Where

Abruzzo