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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/

Quartirolo Lombardo has been part of the history of Lombardy since the 10th century. At that time, the Lombard herdsmen returning to the cattle sheds on the plain, after spending the summer in mountain pastures, used to graze their cows on the fresh grass that grew after the third cutting, known as “quartirola” grass. It is this last grass before w...

1221

The first tomato cultivated in the district of Pachino (50 km south of Syracuse, in the extreme southern tip of Sicily) date from about 1925 on farms with irrigation from groundwater wells. It was noted, even at that time, that tomatoes cultivated in this area had very different characteristics from other tomatoes. First of all, they went into prod...

2118

Citrus cultivation developed in the Ribera valleys at the beginning of the nineteenth century, but it was only in 1930 that it reached truly high standards of quality. This was when the cultivation of the Brasiliano and Washington navel varieties began, which gradually replaced the old acidic varieties with lots of seeds.  This specialization conti...

1257

The earliest literary evidence of the production of Bresaola della Valtellina dates back to the 15th century, but the origin of this typical salami certainly pre-dates that. It is linked to the ancient tradition, common throughout the Alps, of preserving meat by salting and drying. However, the cool, dry and well-ventilated climate of Valtellina al...

1013

Its precise origins are unclear, but salami making has certainly been closely associated with the presence of numerous pig farms in the Po Valley since Roman times. Pig farming and the marketing of pork products acquired a central role in the rural economy and the daily life of the local communities at that time, a fact testified by numerous codex...

1441

The artichoke is a vegetable native to the Mediterranean basin and the first evidence of its consumption as food dates back to the Egyptian and Greek civilisations. In the fourth century BC, Theophrastus mentions it in his history of plants. It was also cultivated in the Roman period, as noted by the historians Pliny and Columella. Over the followi...

1237

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...

1187

Murazzano DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) is the oldest and most delectable of the robiola cheeses from Piedmont, and is made using methods and tools that follow a now-established tradition.  The origins of the Tuma cheese from Langhe Cuneesi date back to antiquity and are interwoven with the roots of the history of the Municipality of Murazz...

1018

The history of the olive has been linked to that of humanity for over 7000 years, even becoming a biblical symbol of peace between God and humanity after the Flood. Olive oil originated in the Eastern Mediterranean and has been used in various ways over the centuries: as an ingredient in cosmetics, a medicine, a fuel, an element of religious ritual...

998

The origins of this cheese are directly linked to the introduction of buffaloes to Italy: according to one of the most credible suggestions, it was the Norman kings who promoted buffalo farming in Southern Italy, in around 1000 AD, beginning from Sicily, where the animals had been originally introduced by the Arabs. Used initially as working animal...

1559

Originally from Peru, the Patata della Sila was introduced by the Spanish, who first brought it to Galicia and then their domains in Italy. From here, it began to spread throughout all of Europe in the sixteenth century. Native to the Andes, the Patata della Sila is particularly suited to high altitudes and sloping fields.  The cultivation of the P...

1250

Gorgonzola is a very old cheese, but its origins are shrouded in legend mystery: F. Massara, a historical writer of chronicles, believed that gorgonzola should be considered a refinement of the cheese that Ansperto da Biassono, archbishop of Milan from 868 to 881, mentioned in his will. Others claim that gorgonzola was first made in the town of the...

1084