Montoro copper onion: the copper-skinned bulb of the Irno valley

A local variety of the Montoro plain

The Slow Food Foundation describes the copper onion as a native variety of the Montoro plain, between the provinces of Avellino and Salerno, grown in the Irno valley and centred on the former municipalities of Montoro Inferiore and Superiore, now merged. The Ark of Taste entry recalls a detail of social history: during the world wars this bulb helped hungry generations survive, when people ate bread, if there was any, with onion. Today, according to Slow Food, the variety risks disappearing because of the industrialisation of agriculture. The Campania Region, in its traditional products profile, explains that the name 'ramata' comes from the typical copper colour of the outer skin and that the onion is valued in Italy and abroad for its sweet taste and intense aroma.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Arca del Gusto: Cipolla ramata di Montoro · Regione Campania — Prodotto tradizionale: cipolla ramata di Montoro

How it is grown

The Campania Region describes a traditional method that has remained unchanged across the area: seedlings are raised in autumn, transplanted into the fields in January or February, and harvest begins in the second half of June. Slow Food gives sowing in late summer or early autumn and harvest at the start of the following summer. After harvest the onions are left to dry in the field, then stored in well-ventilated wooden structures awaiting sale, usually in jute bags. The Region stresses their extraordinary keeping quality, due to a high dry-matter content; according to Slow Food, kept cool in airy rooms, the onion can last until March of the following year. This durability is what made it precious in farm pantries throughout the winter.

Sources: Regione Campania — Prodotto tradizionale: cipolla ramata di Montoro · Fondazione Slow Food — Arca del Gusto: Cipolla ramata di Montoro

Shape, colour and flavour

Slow Food describes a globular, slightly flattened bulb with copper-coloured outer skins and purple-tinged inner layers; the taste is sweet and the aroma intensely fragrant. The Pro Loco Città di Montoro's description, published on the Province's Sistema Irpinia portal for the 2024 festival, speaks of a slightly flattened shape, an exterior recalling copper and white and violet streaks inside; the taste is delicate and sweetish, the onion is very digestible and is eaten both raw and cooked. The quality most valued in the kitchen, stressed by both the Region and the Pro Loco, is how well it holds up in cooking: the copper onion does not fall apart and suits dishes that need hours on the stove, starting with genovese sauce.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Arca del Gusto: Cipolla ramata di Montoro · Provincia di Avellino, Sistema Irpinia — L'Oro di Montoro, Festa della Cipolla Ramata (2024) · Regione Campania — Prodotto tradizionale: cipolla ramata di Montoro

Genovese, oven and salads

According to Slow Food the copper onion is excellent in any preparation. Raw it goes into countless salads; cooked it is used for soups, sauces and side dishes; baked, a drizzle of oil and a pinch of pepper are enough to bring out its aroma and flavour. It is widely used to dress pasta with ragù alla genovese, typical of Campanian cooking, a sauce that, as the Pro Loco notes, needs long cooking. The Campania Region also lists 'genovese' among its traditional prepared dishes, alongside the Montoro copper onion parmigiana. For the 2024 festival the Pro Loco presented a book devoted to genovese, a sign of how strongly the village feels the bond between its onion and this dish.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Arca del Gusto: Cipolla ramata di Montoro · Regione Campania — Prodotti tradizionali: preparazioni gastronomiche · Provincia di Avellino, Sistema Irpinia — L'Oro di Montoro, Festa della Cipolla Ramata (2024)

The Sunday parmigiana

Campania's traditional products also include the Montoro copper onion parmigiana, linked to Montoro Inferiore and nearby areas. The regional profile lists its ingredients: copper onion, peeled tomatoes, cow's-milk scamorza, extra virgin olive oil, grated cheese and salt. The onions are peeled by hand, washed and sliced into rings, then coated and fried in extra virgin olive oil in a pan; the parmigiana is assembled in layers and baked. The result has a roundish shape recalling the onion, red and white colours from tomato and cheese, an intense aroma and a soft, creamy texture. The Region notes that almost every family in Montoro grew copper onions and that the parmigiana was one of the typical Sunday dishes.

Sources: Regione Campania — Prodotto tradizionale: parmigiana di cipolla ramata di Montoro

Towards PGI status and the September festival

The copper onion is currently a traditional food product recognised by the Campania Region. In September 2024 the Pro Loco Città di Montoro presented it as a candidate for PGI recognition: the first edition of 'L'Oro di Montoro – Copper Onion Festival', on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 September in Piazzale del Seminatore in the hamlet of Piano, opened with a conference titled 'The copper onion's path to PGI: benefits and challenges', followed by food stands, exhibitions and music. In the institutional sources consulted, no completed European registration appears as of this guide; on the Province's portal we found no editions of the festival after 2024, which remains the only one verified: check the calendar before travelling. The same portal documented in November 2022 a tour devoted to the copper onion, honey and chestnuts between the hamlet of Aterrana and the convent of Torchiati.

Sources: Provincia di Avellino, Sistema Irpinia — L'Oro di Montoro, Festa della Cipolla Ramata (2024) · Regione Campania — Prodotto tradizionale: cipolla ramata di Montoro · Provincia di Avellino, Sistema Irpinia — Montoro, tour tra beni culturali ed enogastronomici (2022)

Montoro, a town of hamlets

The Sistema Irpinia portal describes Montoro as a town of nearly 20,000 people in the Irno valley, 190 metres up and 14 kilometres from Avellino, made up of fifteen hamlets. Until 1829 it was a single administrative unit; then it split into Montoro Superiore and Montoro Inferiore, reunited on 3 December 2013, and since 2015 it has held the title of city. The area was inhabited as early as the Mesolithic, as a cave at Aterrana shows. Places to see include the ruins of the Lombard castle in the hamlet of Borgo, already standing in 887; the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Torchiati with its cloister; Palazzo Macchiarelli and Palazzo Galiani Pironti; the Grotta di San Michele between Monte Bufoni and Monte Romola; and the hamlet of Aterrana. The calendar includes the Sant'Antonio bonfire on 17 January, an artichoke festival in May and porcini and potato festivals in July.

Sources: Provincia di Avellino, Sistema Irpinia — Montoro

How to taste it and take it home

To understand the copper onion I would try two extremes: raw, thinly sliced with oil and a pinch of salt, to taste its sweetness without the harshness of ordinary onions, and slow-cooked in a genovese, where it becomes the creamy base of the sauce. If you can find it, the onion parmigiana is the dish that best tells the story of home cooking. The onion travels well and, kept dry and cool in a breathable bag, lasts a long time: one of the few vegetables you can take home without worry. The best time to see it in the fields and buy it freshly harvested is early summer; in autumn and winter you find stored onions. Farm visits should be arranged with operators, and it is worth asking for onions explicitly labelled as coming from Montoro.