Liquirizia di Calabria

Appearance & taste

The fresh root is straw-yellow and tastes sweet, aromatic, intense and persistent; it contains 48 to 52 % moisture. The dried root is straw- to ochre-yellow, tastes sweet, fruity and slightly astringent and contains 6 to 12 % moisture. The root extract is brown, the colour of burnt sienna, to black and tastes bittersweet, aromatic, intense and persistent.

The glycyrrhizin content is 0.60 to 1.40 % in the fresh root, 1.2 to 2.4 % in the dried root and 3 to 6 % in the extract. According to the specification, the glycyrrhizin content of Calabrian liquorice is generally lower than in comparable varieties, as is the sugar content; the volatile compounds and the phenolic compounds also differ, for example through a high content of licochalcone A.

Production

The liquorice comes from wild or cultivated plants of the species Glycyrrhiza glabra. All steps from cultivation and harvesting to drying and processing take place in the area.

Liquirizia di Calabria is marketed in packaging made of cardboard, glass, metal, ceramic, polypropylene, high-density polyethylene or other materials approved for food, with contents of 5 g to 25 kg. Each pack carries a seal that is broken when it is opened. The label shows the logo of the name, a stylised square standing on its point, the serial number assigned by the inspection body and the packing date.

Origin & history

The area covers the municipalities of Calabria listed in the specification where the Cordara grows up to 650 m altitude. In the north it is bounded by the Pollino massif, which slopes down to Rocca Imperiale. It includes the slopes of the Crati valley and extends along the Tyrrhenian coast from Falconara Albanese to Nicotera and on the Ionian side from the plain of Sibari across the lowlands of Crotone to the southern tip of Calabria. The historical growing area lay on the coast, above all around Villapiana, Cerchiara di Calabria, Cassano Ionio-Sibari, Corigliano Calabro and Rossano in the plain of Sibari, which is still the centre of liquorice production today. Its soils are siliceous and rich in skeletal material with a neutral pH; the mountain ranges of Pollino and Sila shelter them from the wind. The Mediterranean climate with long, hot, dry summers and mild winters favours the plant.

According to the specification, the Calabrian liquorice variety was already known in the 17th century. A pharmacology handbook from 1903 uses the name Liquirizia di Calabria to distinguish it from the paler Russian liquorice. In 1928 the Encyclopaedia Britannica wrote that the quality of liquorice juice most valued in Great Britain came from Calabria. In the second half of the 18th century, liquorice was grown along the entire Ionian coast as far as Crotone and Reggio Calabria, in the Crati valley and in broad strips on the Tyrrhenian coast. A painting by Saint-Non from the end of the 18th century and numerous publications, for example by Vincenzo Padula (1864), attest to the long tradition.