Cipolla Rossa di Tropea Calabria

Appearance & taste

The onions come from three native ecotypes of the species Allium cepa, which differ in shape and in their early bulb formation, which depends on day length: “Tondo Piatta” as an early onion, “Mezza Campana” as a mid-early one and “Allungata” as a late onion.

Three kinds are sold. The Cipollotto, the freshly harvested onion, is white-pink-violet and tastes sweet and mild. The onion for fresh consumption is white-red to violet, likewise sweet and mild. The storage onion, Cipolla da serbo, is red-violet and tastes sweet and crisp. According to the specification, the onion is known for its mild and sweet taste.

Production

All steps from sowing to harvest take place in the production area. The onions grow on sandy or very sandy alluvial soils with a medium silt or loam content, on the coast and on the banks of rivers and streams. The coast is suited to the early fresh onion, the hinterland with its loamier soils to the later storage onion.

For freshly harvested onions the earthy outer skins are removed, the tops are shortened by 30 to 60 cm, and the onions go into crates in bunches. Onions for fresh consumption are shortened at the tops by 35 to 60 cm and tied into bunches of 1.5 to 6 kg. The storage onions are laid out in swaths on the ground and dry for 8 to 15 days under their own leaves; this makes them firm and resistant and gives them a bright red colour. After that they are cut off or plaited into strings of at least six onions and packed in small sacks or crates of up to 25 kg.

Origin & history

The area covers suitable land in municipalities of Calabria: in the province of Cosenza parts of the area from Fiumefreddo to Amantea, in the province of Catanzaro parts from Nocera Terinese to Curinga and in the province of Vibo Valentia parts of Pizzo, Vibo Valentia, Tropea, Ricadi, Nicotera and other municipalities. The red onion is grown there in small vegetable gardens as well as on large plots and is part of many local dishes.

Historical sources attribute the introduction of the onion to the Mediterranean and to Calabria first to the Phoenicians and then to the Greeks. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance it was bartered and sold locally and shipped by sea to Tunisia, Algeria and Greece. Travellers who visited the coast from Pizzo to Tropea between 1700 and 1800 mention the red onion. According to the specification, in the Bourbon period it found its way to northern European markets; the “Studi sulla Calabria” of 1901 describe the red, elongated onions from Calabria. At the beginning of the 20th century the onion left the small family gardens, and from 1929 cultivation expanded greatly because the aqueduct of the Ruffa valley brought water for irrigation. The first statistical surveys of onion growing in Calabria are given in the Enciclopedia agraria Reda (1936–39).