Perhaps some will know the Senise<\/em> peppers<\/em>, others the Roggian<\/em> peppers<\/em> in the province of Cosenza<\/strong>. But still few know of the existence of Zafarana<\/em> di Tortora<\/strong>, the first town in north-western Calabria, on the border with Basilicata. Here, for years, the youngest tell, the grandmothers baked “nzerte of zaferana<\/em>” (wreaths of peppers) when they made bread, to then obtain the powder for use in the kitchen. Those same grandmothers who today look at their astonished grandchildren who return to their country just to cultivate zaferana<\/em>, like some agronomists come from abroad. Because yes, in Tortora that much-vaunted return to youth farming is anything but a chimera or an illusion. It’s all true, with real names and faces and with a precise purpose: to enhance the Zafarana of Tortora<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FROM BRAZIL TO CALABRIA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Both that of Senise<\/em>, that of Roggiano\nGravina<\/em> and Tortora<\/em> peppers are\npart of the same family, or of those red peppers, sweet and not at all spicy,\nwith the characteristic shape of a goat’s horn, which once dried and cooked,\nfor their peculiarity of being crunchy, are justly called “cruschi<\/em>” (crispy). Originating in\nBrazil, they are known in Italy and Calabria after the discovery of America and\nfind their ideal habitat in the mild climate between Calabria and Basilicata,\nin that special soil of the most hilly areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the three tipology of peppers\n(Senise, Roggian and Tortora<\/em>) there\nis no competition, on the contrary: there is a constructive relationship of\ncollaboration and mutual support, all the farmers are aimed at making the world\nknow about a product that is still so little known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE SAFFRON OF THE POOR<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What differentiates the Zafarana<\/em> from Tortora is that, having a\nslightly thinner skin, it tends to have less water stagnation and therefore\nlend itself more to drying. The name obviously brings us back to saffron: it\nderives from the same Arabic root of zafran<\/em><\/strong>, because the red color of the\npowdered zafarana<\/em> is reminiscent of\nthat of the crocus sativus<\/em>. The\nlatter is the well-known species of flowering plant of the Crocus genus<\/em> in the iris\nfamily Iridaceae<\/em>, famous for producing the spice saffron<\/em>, from the filaments that grow inside the flower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In reality, however, it is a very different product in terms of taste and cost, this is why it has been nicknamed “the saffron of the poor<\/em>” because it is always present on the Tortorese<\/em> tables. Here, in fact, every family has cultivated its zafarana<\/em> since ancient times, so much so that in a church of the town a fresco of 1628 was found where it is depicted among eggplants and oranges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The association La Zafarana di Tortora<\/strong>, with its president Giuseppe Limongi<\/em>, a professional ceramist, tries to protect such an\nancient product and to ensure that it remains a very small niche production. He\ntold: “I am a deep lover of art and\nnature, and zaferana is nothing but a wonderful form of art present in nature<\/em>“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A LONG AND COMPLEX CULTIVATION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Tradition has it that the production\nof zaferana<\/em> begins in March, during\nthe week of Saint Joseph<\/strong>. Later, in\nApril, when the seedlings are born, they are put in a seedbed until June; then\nthe best are selected and planted in the fields between June and July.\nHarvesting can begin in August and also end in December depending on the\nweather. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, once collected, they are\ntwisted making a small hole with a needle one behind the other in the typical\n“nzerte<\/strong>” (wreaths ), or\nthose braids<\/em> of peppers that you see\nhanging in the houses, at the windows, on the balconies. The important thing is\nthat they are ventilated and dry places, not exposed to the sun, but always in\nthe shade and without humidity. So that they can last for months, even a year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Then it can be eaten either fried\n(cooking lasts for a few seconds) in a pan, or in powder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE ZAFARANA IN THE KITCHEN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The typical way to cook zafarana<\/em> is to use the powder (so called\n“pisata<\/strong>“) for cooking\nbolied potatoes (the plate is called “patane\ncca zaferana pisata<\/em>“). The powder is also associated to consumption of\noil, garlic and salt, paired with bread, eggs or dried figs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Today the peppers are used in many ways in the kitchen, but the most recommended is to taste them alone, fried in a pan. \u00a0The second one can instead try the classic combination with cod, just as you traditionally eat the Senise pepper in Basilicata. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once powdered, however, one of the\nmost traditional combinations is to sprinkle it over pasta such as lagane and chickpeas<\/em> or spaghetti<\/em> with garlic and oil, but also\ndirectly into fusilli<\/em> or tagliatelle<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Alternatively, zaferana<\/em> can also be added during the preparation of bread or\nbiscuits. Also perfect on the second course: on the fried egg, on the meat with\na drizzle of oil, or on the fish, since it also favors conservation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, why not try a nice risotto<\/em> made exclusively with zafarana?<\/p>\n\n\n\n ZAFARANAFEST<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n To taste the zafarana<\/em> in all its forms, it is worthwhile going to the party that\nthe association La Zafarana di Tortora<\/strong>\nhas been organizing for ten years every first weekend of October, at the end of\nthe harvest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is also the right occasion to\nlearn a lot about this product: In addition to food and goliardic aspects, much\nimportance is given to cultural aspects, with conferences on the benefits of zaferana<\/em>, with interesting projects with\nschools and so on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Further, this is also an opportunity\nto visit the town of Tortora, with a truly enviable historic center, like the\nnearby and delicious village of “Aieta<\/em>“.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 3.11.2019 Discovering the Zafarana or those red peppers, sweet and not at all spicy, with the characteristic shape of a goat’s horn, which once dried and cooked, have the peculiarity of being crispy. It is the tastiest fruit of summer vegetables. Perhaps some will know the Senise peppers, others the Roggian peppers in the province … Continue reading The crispy peppers of Tortora, so called “Zafarana”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[13,15,16,20,23,24,27,91,29,30,75,90,36,38],"class_list":["post-2773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-calabria","category-fruits","tag-authentic","tag-calabria","tag-calabrian","tag-delicious","tag-food","tag-foody","tag-gastronomy","tag-italiantaste","tag-italy","tag-mediterranean","tag-pepper","tag-recipe","tag-vegan","tag-yummy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smaf-ltd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smaf-ltd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smaf-ltd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smaf-ltd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smaf-ltd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2773"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.smaf-ltd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2813,"href":"https:\/\/www.smaf-ltd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2773\/revisions\/2813"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smaf-ltd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smaf-ltd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smaf-ltd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smaf-ltd.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/smaf-ltd.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Zafarana-Nzerte.jpg\")
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