APULICA / FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND PULSES
Verneteca Sannio cherry tomato
Slow Food Presidium · Fruit, vegetables and pulses · Campania
In brief
- A keeping cherry tomato from the Valle Telesina in the province of Benevento, with yellow skin and pinkish flesh. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Pomodorino verneteca sannita)
- Within hours of picking it is tied into clusters called penneci and hung in the air until spring. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Pomodorino verneteca sannita)
- The name refers to winter: thanks to its tough skin it can be eaten raw even in the cold months. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Pomodorino verneteca sannita)
History and origin
The verneteca is a keeping tomato from the foothills of the Sannio Apennines, probably related to the cherry tomato. Its name tells its main quality: thanks to its tough skin it keeps in the open air and can be eaten raw even in winter, so farmers called it pomodoro vernino, the winter tomato, or verneteca.
There are no written historical records of this tomato, because for generations it was grown only for the family. Its story was handed down in kitchen gardens, together with the seeds and the gesture of tying the clusters to hang them.
In the twentieth century the depopulation of inland areas, competition from other varieties and new preserving techniques sharply reduced its cultivation, in favour of greenhouse or imported tomatoes. The Slow Food Presidium was created to rediscover this tradition, increase the quantities grown, bring abandoned land in this Apennine area back into use and involve new growers.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Pomodorino verneteca sannita
Area and method of production
The Presidium area is the Valle Telesina, in the province of Benevento, at the foot of the Sannio Apennines. Cultivation fills the warm season, from May to September, and is done entirely by hand, with stakes and wires supporting the plants.
Harvest is staggered, between August and September; if the weather allows, fruit is picked from the plant even well into October. Within a few hours of picking the tomatoes are braided and tied with string into golden bunches called pienneci or penneci.
The penneci are hung in airy, sheltered places such as balconies and porch roofs, and keep this way until the following spring. It is long, entirely manual and not very profitable work: that is why only a few small growers have kept it up, and the Presidium aims to grow it with new farmers.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Pomodorino verneteca sannita
How to recognise it
The verneteca is small and round, slightly flattened near the stalk; some fruits end in a point at the tip. Colour is its signature: the skin is yellow, more or less intense, while the flesh is pinkish.
On the palate it stands out for pleasant acidity and a crunchy skin. It is rich in vitamin C.
The firm skin is also the secret of its long life: it lets the hanging bunches get through autumn and winter in the open air while staying good to eat raw. The golden penneci hanging under porch roofs are the easiest way to recognise it in the villages of the valley during the cold months.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Pomodorino verneteca sannita
In the kitchen
The traditional way to enjoy it is the simplest: raw, crushed onto bread, or just lightly seared to bring out its freshness. The very fact that it could be eaten raw in midwinter, made it precious for the families of the valley.
It is also an ingredient in local recipes, from soups to first courses and main dishes, to which it brings its lively acidity.
In recent years the verneteca has also been rediscovered as a pizza topping: the Presidium is in fact supported by a pizzeria, a sign of new interest in a tomato that for generations had not left home kitchens.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Pomodorino verneteca sannita
Where to taste it
To find it you need to go to the Valle Telesina, in the province of Benevento, among the foothill villages of the Sannio Apennines where it is grown. Most of the crop still stays with families, but some reaches the weekly markets of the growing villages.
The season for fresh fruit is late summer, between August and September; the preserved bunches, the penneci, can be seen from autumn until spring, hanging from balconies and under porch roofs.
A trip to the Sannio can combine this tomato with the countryside and villages of the valley, choosing late summer to see the harvest and the braiding of the bunches, and winter to taste it raw on bread, as tradition has it.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Pomodorino verneteca sannita
Protection
- Slow Food Presidium — pomodorino-verneteca-sannita (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Pomodorino verneteca sannita)
When
- Harvest: August–October (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Pomodorino verneteca sannita)
- Summer
- Autumn