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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/

The art of preserving pork was firmly established in the Tuscany region by the Middle Ages. This can be seen from the number of laws governing the slaughter of pigs and the preservation of pork already in place at the time of Charlemagne. Prosciutto Toscano comes from an old tradition of Tuscan farmers, who would slaughter a pig fattened for a year...

846

Caciocavallo Silano DOP is without doubt one of the oldest and most typical spun curd cheeses of southern Italy. It was mentioned by Hippocrates in 500 B.C. when describing the art used by the Greeks when preparing “Cacio” (cheese). This dairy tradition, which originated in the Sila Plateau, gradually expanded along the Apennine ridge in southern I...

830

The introduction of olive cultivation in Sardinia is attributable to populations of Minoan origin who refined the local olives with repeated pruning and grafting in the period between the eighth and seventh centuries B.C. Thanks to the establishment of several important areas of olive groves in south-central Sardinia, olive growing underwent signif...

725

The species known as Cichorium Intybus has been around since the dawn of time as wild chicory, but it took continuous selection and technical improvements to make the prized and famous Radicchio Rosso di Treviso IGP. Its presence in the Veneto area can be traced to the 16th century as demonstrated by iconographic studies: in particular, in a painti...

1251

Ragusano DOP is a spun curd cheese made with raw cow’s milk using traditional equipment. It is produced throughout the province of Ragusa and in some towns in the province of Syracuse during the fodder season, i.e. November to May. Historically referred to as “caciocavallo ragusano” (caciocavallo from Ragusa), it is one of the island’s oldest dairy...

1148

The ancient origins of the Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Reggio Emilia, which are largely unknown, cloak this product, which has conquered emperors, princes and dukes, in mystery. The first written reference is found in the poem “Vita Mathildis”, written by the monk Donizone, biographer of Matilda of Canossa, in 1046. Henri III, Emperor of German...

748

Farro, or emmer, is a grain that has been cultivated for thousands of years in the Mediterranean basin and is the progenitor of all wheats known today, including soft wheat and durum wheat. Its cultivation dates back at least 7,000 years BC. It was the staple food of the Assyrians, the Egyptians and all the ancient peoples of the Middle East and No...

836

In 1450, a few decades after the spread of rice throughout the Po Valley, the first documents appeared that mention the presence of this crop in Polesine, particularly in the area of the Po delta, as this crop was closely related to reclamation and was the first stage in the agricultural use of the new land. The nature of the dried soil became cruc...

782

The “rose that you eat” appeared towards the end of the 19th century as a cross between Treviso red radicchio and endive (escarole): its shape is reminiscent of a head of lettuce but its characteristics are typical of chicory. Thanks to continuous improvements by skilled horticulturists and two centuries of seed selection, today the product is one...

989

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...

834

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...

801

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...

1687