MIPAAF

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali – MIPAAF) develops and coordinates the lines of agricultural, forestry, agri-food and fisheries at the national, European and international level. http://www.politicheagricole.it/


The history of the Nocellara del Belice olive is 2,700 years old. Sicily, particularly the Belice Valley area, has been colonized at various times over the course of the centuries. The land was subjected in turn by the Sicani, Elymians, Phoenicians and Greeks, followed by the Romans, Normans, Arabs and Spaniards. The reason for this is simple. Loca...

Castelmagno DOP is named after the town of the same name, situated between the Maritime and Cottian Alps in the province of Cuneo, its main commercial centre and the area in which it was first made centuries ago. The origins of Castelmagno are very ancient. The earliest official document mentioning its existence and appreciation is an arbitration a...

The origins of the salumi tradition in Calabria probably date back to the times of the Greek colonisation of the Ionic Coast and the cultural and artistic splendour of Ancient Greece. It is a three thousand year old tradition, though the oldest written account comes courtesy of Varro, a Roman intellectual. He wrote of “minced meat, stuffed into cas...

Tomatoes first arrived in the Po Valley in the 16th century, along with other tubers and spices, after a voyage in the holds of the galleons of Hernán Cortés, Conquistador of the Aztec empire. The tomato received a very cool reception from rulers, scientists and clerics, who labelled it as a harmful fruit. Its fortunes revived, however, in the 17th...

Grana Padano first appeared around the year one thousand, in the countryside surrounding the Po. It was a time of hunger and famine, when nothing could be wasted. The monks therefore researched a method to transform milk into a non-perishable cheese. Their experiments in maturing created a hard cheese that could be stored for long periods and which...

The first evidence of olive growing in Abruzzo date from the period of Roman domination, when the protectionist measures adopted by Rome favoured an expansion of olive-growing and the olive oil industry.  Virgil speaks of olive trees in the Marsica, near Lake Fucino, while Ovid documents their production in the Peligna Valley. With the fall of the...

Various historical and bibliographic sources attribute the introduction of the onion in the Mediterranean basin, and especially Calabria, before the Phoenicians and after the Greeks. The plots of land adjacent to the coast of Calabria had the ideal soil and climate conditions for this unique ecotype, a lover of cool soil overlooking the sea. Citati...

Speck was created hundreds of years ago through the symbiosis of two methods for preserving meat: curing, which was widespread in the Mediterranean area, and smoking, typical of northern Europe. As such, Alto Adige, a land that merges the two cultures, gave rise to a speciality with an unmistakable production process and taste, made according to th...

Pecorino is an exquisite product with a long tradition. Ancient testimonies still exist that praise its qualities: in older times it was called “Marzolino” and in 1475 the humanist Bartolomeo Platina acclaimed it as the best cheese in Italy. In 1832, Ignazio Malenotti, a member of the Linnean Society of Paris, published the “Shepherd’s Handbook” in...

Horace, the great Latin poet of the 1st century BC, while travelling to Brindisi, described the bread of Altamura as “the best by far” and so appetising that “wise travellers carry a load on their shoulders for later”: i.e. a bread for export. The discovery of Pane di Altamura by the Romans, accustomed to stodgy, indigestible barley bread, soon ele...

The Riviera Ligure Protected Designation of Origin (DOP) Extra Virgin Olive Oil production area extends across the entire territory of Liguria. Olive cultivation rises from the coastal area up to accessible heights. After the fall of the Roman Empire, olive growing continued alongside the cultivation of other crops. Liguria provided an ideal climat...

San Daniele is the name of a place that is home to a sensational product that shares all its features: it is Friuli’s crowning achievement. Connected to a very old production method that has remained unchanged over the centuries, Prosciutto from San Daniele is a highly prized product. San Daniele Prosciutto DOP is made by curing fresh legs of Itali...