Patata del Fucino: the harvest of a former lake, at 700 metres

A lake turned into fields

Qualigeo notes that the Patata del Fucino grows in the bed of the former Lake Fucino, drained and reclaimed in 1875, at about 700 metres above sea level. The page for the neighbouring Carota dell'Altopiano del Fucino PGI describes a basin of about 14,000 hectares, ringed by high Apennine peaks, with 'young' soils made fertile by the humus deposited for millennia on the lake bed.

The potato specification defines the area by the Circonfucense provincial road, which loops around the plain, and by the numbered farm roads, from road 1 to road 46, that divide the plots. The boundary described in the text starts from Avezzano and passes places whose names tell of the reclamation, such as Borgo Incile, Borgo via Nuova and the former sugar factory.

It is a geometric, recent landscape of regular fields and canals, very different from the hilltop villages around it. That very contrast makes the Fucino one of the most distinctive farming landscapes in Abruzzo.

Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Patata del Fucino IGP · Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Carota dell'Altopiano del Fucino IGP · Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 115 del 18 maggio 2016 — Disciplinare dell'IGP «Patata del Fucino»

Nine towns of the Marsica

The PGI was registered by European Regulation No 656 of 18 April 2016, and the specification was published in the Official Gazette on 18 May the same year. The area covers parts of nine towns in the province of L'Aquila: Avezzano, Celano, Cerchio, Aielli, Pescina, San Benedetto dei Marsi, Ortucchio, Trasacco and Luco dei Marsi, all overlooking the plain.

The basic rule is simple: the potato must be planted, grown and harvested within the former lake basin. To guarantee this, the specification requires plots, growers and packing centres to be registered on lists kept by the inspection body and quantities produced to be declared, so that every pack can be traced.

The protection consortium is based in Celano. Qualigeo lists 205 operators and certified production of almost 8,800 tonnes in 2023, after a peak of more than 10,600 in 2022. Inspections are entrusted to a body authorised by the Ministry, which checks compliance with the specification along the whole chain.

Sources: Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 115 del 18 maggio 2016 — Disciplinare dell'IGP «Patata del Fucino» · Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Patata del Fucino IGP

Free choice of variety, fixed method

A frequently misunderstood point: the PGI does not prescribe a variety. It covers mature tubers grown from certified seed tubers of varieties listed in the EU common catalogue, and the variety must appear on the label. The specification fixes the method instead, based on the plain's traditional practices.

Growing follows the integrated or organic production rules set each year by the Abruzzo Region's plant health service. Repeat cropping, rotation with other nightshades and intercropping are banned. In spring the land is ploughed at least 30-40 centimetres deep and the soil refined; planting runs from mid-March to the end of May, with seed tubers of 28-55 millimetres, whole or cut if larger, rows 65 to 90 centimetres apart and plants 20-35 centimetres apart along the row.

Particular care goes into earthing up, which must keep the tubers underground and stop them turning green. Irrigation is allowed only by sprinkler or drip, with preference for water-saving techniques.

Sources: Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 115 del 18 maggio 2016 — Disciplinare dell'IGP «Patata del Fucino» · Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Patata del Fucino IGP

Harvest, storage and label

Harvest starts on 20 July with early varieties and ends on 15 November with mid- and late-season ones. The specification explains how to judge the right moment: the tuber is ripe when the skin no longer comes away from the flesh under thumb pressure. In very dry or cloddy soils a light watering is given before digging so as not to damage the potatoes.

After a first sorting in the field, the tubers go to packing centres. There they are stored in bins at between 4 and 10 degrees and at a relative humidity of 88 to 95%, for no more than nine months. They can be sold as they are or washed or brushed, in sealed packs that cannot be opened without breaking them, except for cartons and crates.

The label shows the name Patata del Fucino with the PGI initials or the words in full, the EU symbol, the grower or packer and the variety. Qualigeo lists formats ranging from half-kilo nets to twenty-kilo sacks.

Sources: Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 115 del 18 maggio 2016 — Disciplinare dell'IGP «Patata del Fucino» · Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Patata del Fucino IGP

Flavour measured by tasting panels

The specification explains the link with the land through sensory tests. Using the flavour profile method, on steamed or fried tubers, Fucino potatoes compared with the same varieties grown in Germany, France, Calabria, Emilia-Romagna and Lazio stood out for 'typical taste or goodness of flavour'. A panel of trained tasters from the Italian Sommelier Association found a very pronounced potato flavour, almost free of negative aftertastes such as metallic or grassy notes.

According to the studies cited, carried out by the regional agricultural development agency and a technical institute, Fucino potatoes do not darken after steaming, unlike those of other origins tested alongside them.

The minimum characteristics are precise: shape from round to elongated oval, size from 35 to 80 millimetres, firm flesh from white to yellow and an edible portion of no less than 95%. Per hundred grams the text requires at least 8 grams of starch, 300 milligrams of potassium and 35 of phosphorus.

Sources: Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 115 del 18 maggio 2016 — Disciplinare dell'IGP «Patata del Fucino» · Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Patata del Fucino IGP

The Potato Festival since 1971

Among the proofs of reputation, the specification and Qualigeo mention the Potato Festival, held since 1971 in the Fucino, in the municipality of Avezzano. They also recall that in 2008, the FAO's International Year of the Potato, Fucino growers supported the Albanian region of Zadrima with technical assistance and farm tools as part of a cooperation project.

The Fucino potato appeared on national television programmes in 1993 and 2001, and technical journals such as L'Informatore Agrario have repeatedly described the Fucino as an area well suited to growing and trialling new varieties. The text also notes that from 2002 many associated growers were already following an integrated production protocol under the name Patata del Fucino, proof that the name was in use before the PGI.

For the festival's dates in recent years we found no official announcement to cite: it is best to check with the Municipality of Avezzano before travelling.

Sources: Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 115 del 18 maggio 2016 — Disciplinare dell'IGP «Patata del Fucino» · Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Patata del Fucino IGP

Carrots and the plain's other vegetables

The potato is not the Fucino's only PGI. The same basin grows the Carota dell'Altopiano del Fucino PGI, which Qualigeo describes as a cylindrical root with a rounded tip, an intense, even orange right up to the crown, with crunchy flesh and a sweet taste. Its history here is recent: it spread after the lake was drained, and open-field growing in the reclaimed area began in 1950.

Carrots are sown by machine between February and April and harvested in the early hours of sunlight; the best crop runs from June to October. Within four hours of harvest they must reach the washing and packing centres, where they are chilled at once. The two PGIs thus share the same fertile land and the same summer and autumn calendar.

Qualigeo suggests eating them raw, lightly scraped, in salads with greens, tomatoes, radicchio, apples or oranges, or in purées, minestrone, bakes and as a side: a good match, in home cooking, for the potato from the same plain.

Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Carota dell'Altopiano del Fucino IGP

In the kitchen and Abruzzo's other potatoes

Qualigeo suggests Patata del Fucino for gnocchi, baking, frying, savoury pies, gateau, stews, soups and salads, and names it the main ingredient of the historic Fucino potato and pumpkin soup. The specification also lists processed products: pre-fried potatoes, frozen cubes, gnocchi, bakes and fresh potatoes already peeled and cut.

Abruzzo also has mountain potatoes with very different stories, listed among the Region's traditional products: the turchesa potato, the mountain potato of the Medio Sangro and the potatoes of the Abruzzo uplands. The turchesa, a Slow Food Presidium supported by the Gran Sasso and Laga Mountains Park, has purple skin and white flesh, was grown above 1,600 metres and is harvested from late summer to October.

Setting the plain's potato beside the high-altitude ones is a simple way to see how much the growing place matters.

Sources: Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Patata del Fucino IGP · Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 115 del 18 maggio 2016 — Disciplinare dell'IGP «Patata del Fucino» · Regione Abruzzo — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, sezione Abruzzo · Fondazione Slow Food — Patata turchesa · Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga — I Prodotti del Parco

Reading the plain and taking potatoes home

The Fucino is best understood from above: I would climb to one of the villages on the rim of the basin, Celano or Pescina, to see the grid of roads and fields, then drop into the plain between July and October, while the harvest is under way. Visits to packing centres or fields should be arranged with the operators. At the table I would look for simple dishes where the potato is the star, such as the soup with pumpkin or gnocchi, and if possible compare a Fucino potato with a mountain turchesa. When buying, I would check for the designation's name with the PGI abbreviation and the variety on the label. Potatoes travel well in the dark and cool, away from light that turns them green.