The ABC's of Campania Food & Wine: A
A is for annurca and aglianico
A is for annurca:
The apple has a distinct American identity, with Johnny Appleseed nearly as well-known as Santa Claus. Yet the Annurca apple is, indeed, a regional specialty of Campania that has nothing to do with America. I challenge you to think beyond the Red Delicious and perfectly-stacked pyramids of Gala apples at the supermarket and transport yourself to the countryside in Campania. The Annurca apple is grown in every Campania province, where about 60% of apple consumption is of the Annurca variety. The apple’s origins lie in Pozzuoli, a city north of Naples where Homer reported Hell resided. “Annurca†derives from “Mala orcula:†mala for the derivative mal, which means “bad,” or mala, which means “underworld” and orcula, for the Hereafter of Hell. This did not dissuade the locals from eating it, and one can even see frescoes that closely resemble the Annurca apple in Herculaneum at the Casa dei Cervi. Mala orcula was changed to anorcola, annorcula, and was listed officially as annurca in 1876 in G.E. Pasquale’s Manuale di Arboricultura. Today it has taken a noble leap from apple-of-the-underworld to being nationally known as “Queen of Apples†for its desirable qualities. What makes the Annurca apple unique and desirable? First, its long history, as well as cultural and economical ties to the region, helped to grant it IGP status. Also, its harvesting methods are unique: the apples are harvested green, and then lay dormant in the sun for 20 – 50 days to redden. The end product is a crisp apple, small in size, with rough, red stripes on the outside and dense, crisp, bright white flesh inside.
TOURING INFORMATION:
Giaccio Frutta 81041 Vitulazio CE - Località Fontana, 8 Tel. +39 0823 990686 Fax.+39 0823 967621 Email: giacciofrutta@libero.it Fattoria di Varcatura Open from May to October - Christmas - Easter 80014 Giugliano in Campania (Napoli) Viale dei Pini Nord, 2 Località Varcaturo E-mail: famiglia.coronella@virgilio.it Reservations: prenotazioni@fattoriadivarcaturo.it Tel e Fax: +39 055 2479573 Fattoria Antico Borgo dei Briganti Via S. Giorgio, 25 Giffoni Valle Piana (SA) Email: anticoborgodeibriganti@virgilio.it Tel: +39 339 5944148
A is for aglianico:
The Aglianico is a grape variety with a tale of a noble past, a downfall, and a rise to popular, yet underrated, wine-making. The grape clusters are full and dark and produce an inky-dark wine that is rich in fruit and chocolate flavors, smoke, and sometimes a bold hint of iron. It pairs well with meat-based pasta dishes as primo, and hearty plates of game, steak and sausage as secondo. It is 100% of the Taurasi wine, which is only one of three DOCG wines of Campania, and is a large percentage of numerous other wines such as Falerno Rosso and Irpinia Aglianico. The Aglianico is thought to be the oldest grape cultivated in Italy, with a history that stretches as far back as the 6th Century B.C., when the Greeks brought it to Campania. It flourished in the hot, dry climate and was heralded as the Falernum wine of kings and poets, produced in the hills of Falerna in modern-day Catanzaro. The name aglianico is a nod to its Greek heritage. A bit of mystery surrounds the exact origins of the name, because it derives either from the Italian word ellenico (Hellenic), or perhaps from the word eleanico, from the Greek island Elea. In addition, there is speculation that the Aglianico is native to Italy and was not brought over by the Greeks, but was instead named by them. In the 19th Century, the Phylloxera pest nearly wiped out the Aglianico vineyards. It was not until the late 1960s that its comeback surged from the vineyards of the Mastroberardino house and the Avallone family of Villa Matilde, a time when only three wineries commercially produced Campania wine. Today, over 120 producers exist, many of them in the mountainous Avellino region, also known as Irpinia.
Sources: Aglianico Winegeeks. 19 Jan 2011. Bonetto, Cristian and Josephine Quintero. Naples and the Amalfi Coast. Edition 3. Lonely Planet, 2010. Carlo, Pasquale. “All the Flavors and Colors of Naples and Southern Italy Luciano Pignataro Wine Blog 21 Oct 2010. 2 Mar 2011. LaVilla, Joseph. The Wine, Beer, and Spirits Handbook: A Guide to Styles and Service. John Wiley and Sons, 2009. “Lista della cultivar della mela†World Lingo 2011, WorldLingo Translations LLC. 5 Mar 2011. Magnaparma. “Aglianico D.O.C. Rosso’s Origins The Italian Food Valley Magnaparma 15 Sep 2010. 1 Mar 2011. McCarthy, Ed. “Wine†Campania Foods Blog Feb 26 2011. “Melannurca (Campania Annurca Apple)†Taste of Sorrento 2005. 19 Jan 2011. MikeMo. Aglianico Vinvillage 17 Dec 2009. 3 Mar 2011. Pelecchia, Thomas. Wine: The 8,000-Year-Old Story of the Wine Trade. New York, New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2006. Simonis, Damien and Duncan Garwood. Italy. Lonely Planet, 2004.