The Mediterranean Diet is made up of healthy products but also of stories of farmers and fishermen. Agricultural and fishing traditions merge to give life to a unique and healthy lifestyle.
Farmers and fishermen together persist in researching and preserving local biodiversity concretely, without mimicking models that have no connection with our area. It’s necessary to consider both farmers and fishermen as the real repositories of the Mediterranean food. They are the authentic custodians of this priceless heritage left to us by our grandparents and it is necessary to remember that without them, without those people who work preserving authenticity, we would risk to create fakes.
Today I introduce the Quarantino tomato. It’s a very old variety, with a long history.
Our grandparents used to cultivate these tomatoes that were highly requested by the canning industry, especially after the Second World War, when, a processing centre was built in the Sele Valley. Here, thousands of tons of tomatoes produced in the Alento Valley were delivered.
Since some years I have resumed the cultivation of this tomato resistant to parasites and adaptable to the climate and the soil; it can be cultivated also in dry weather anticipating the planting in spring.
I am in love with this plant but, more than with the plant, I am in love with its history, linked to us, our area and our culture.
I would like to dedicate these few lines to Santino Scola, an 80 years old passionate custodian farmer.