APULICA / FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND PULSES
Sècena rye of the Matese
Slow Food Presidium · PAT · Fruit, vegetables and pulses · Campania
In brief
- An old rye grown at 900-1200 m on the Matese, in the towns of the regional park in the province of Caserta, without fertilisers or chemical treatments. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Sècena del Matese)
- It is sown in October after the potatoes and gives a dark, slightly sour flour that makes a dense, long-keeping bread. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Sècena del Matese)
- It is on Campania's list of traditional products under the name secena. (Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026))
History and origin
Sècena is an ancient rye variety grown since time immemorial by the farming communities of the Matese massif, the mountain between Campania and Molise. Hardy and tough, able to cope with poor soils and the harsh winters of the plateau, for centuries it was a vital resource for families: its flour made bread, flatbreads and biscuits, and its dried stems were woven into baskets and hats.
In the twentieth century its decline was dramatic. Wars, industrialisation, the depopulation of inland areas and competition from machine-grown lowland cereals almost wiped it from the landscape, and the abandonment of rye bread did the rest. The regional sheet notes that in recent decades it was grown mostly for livestock.
Today a few guardian farmers, supported by the municipalities of Castello del Matese and Letino and by the Federico II University of Naples, have brought it back to life with a Slow Food Presidium. The variety is kept in the Campanian germplasm bank and is listed among Campania's traditional products.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Sècena del Matese · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura: Secena (prodotti tradizionali) · Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026)
Area and method of production
The Presidium area includes the towns of the Matese Regional Park in the province of Caserta: Ailano, Alife, Capriati a Volturno, Castello del Matese, Fontegreca, Gallo Matese, Gioia Sannitica, Letino, Piedimonte Matese, Prata Sannita, Raviscanina, San Gregorio Matese, San Potito Sannitico, Sant'Angelo d'Alife and Valle Agricola. The regional sheet names the plateau as its historic heart, with San Gregorio Matese, Gallo and Letino.
It is grown between 900 and 1,200 metres without fertilisers or chemical treatments. It is sown in October, in rotation after the harvest of Matese potatoes and other summer crops, and harvested between early July and early August, depending on altitude.
The grain used to be milled in local mills. Today the recovery focuses on short supply chains, new opportunities for young bakers, brewers and local cooks, and thoughtful tourism that brings value back to these mountains.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Sècena del Matese · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura: Secena (prodotti tradizionali)
How to recognise it
In the field sècena is recognised by its golden, flexible ears. The grains are greyish, elongated and sharply pointed, and traditionally came mixed with the seeds of other field plants. It is a hardy plant that adapts to poor soils and the harsh mountain climate and grows without fertilisers.
The flour is dark and coarse, with a bold, slightly sour flavour. The bread made from it is dark and dense, with a crunchy, crumbly crust and a crumb without large holes.
Its quality most valued by mountain families was how long it lasted: the round loaves, weighing three or four kilos, kept for days, so the bread could last a long time.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Sècena del Matese · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura: Secena (prodotti tradizionali)
In the kitchen
Sècena is first of all bread. The traditional recipe, described in the regional sheet, mixed the flour with water, salt and criscito, the sourdough starter kept from the previous batch. It was left to rise for a couple of hours in a warm place, kneaded again and left to rest another hour in wicker baskets covered with a cloth, before baking in a wood-fired oven.
The same flour also made flatbreads and biscuits, while the stems were woven into baskets and hats: a cereal from which nothing was wasted.
Today the Presidium is also looking at new uses, involving bakers, brewers and restaurateurs of the Matese: the dark, sour flour can become breads, baked goods and beers that tell the story of the mountain.
Sources: Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura: Secena (prodotti tradizionali) · Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Sècena del Matese
Where to taste it
Sècena is found on the Caserta side of the Matese, in the towns of the Regional Park: on the plateau of Letino, Gallo Matese and San Gregorio Matese, and in the villages on the slopes such as Castello del Matese, Piedimonte Matese, Alife and Gioia Sannitica.
Summer is the season to see it in the fields: in July and early August the golden ears ripen between 900 and 1,200 metres, after autumn sowing. Sècena bread, which keeps for a long time, is once again baked by local bakers involved in the recovery of the supply chain.
A trip to the Matese can combine the landscapes of the Regional Park with the discovery of a mountain cereal and its dark bread, the symbol of a community that has chosen to protect its own biodiversity.
Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Sècena del Matese · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura: Secena (prodotti tradizionali)
Protection
- Slow Food Presidium — secena-del-matese (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Sècena del Matese)
- Traditional agri-food product (PAT) — Campania, n. 374, 26th revision (Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026))
When
- Harvest: July–August (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Sècena del Matese)
- Summer