Tremors not only hit the geographic heart, but also its gastronomic heart.
Cheeses, hams, wines and even lentils. In addition to killing almost 300 people and destroying hundreds of buildings, the series of earthquakes in central Italy that began on August 24th dealt a severe blow to the production of some of the country's most famous gastronomic excellences.
The last of them, which devastated the city of Norcia, with just 5 thousand inhabitants, caused severe damage to producers of the famous local raw ham. “There is absolutely nothing left, we lost everything, we need water and shelter for the animals,” manufacturer Valentina Fausti, who has even served her sausages at the White House, told the newspaper “la Repubblica”.
With a protected geographical indication (PGI), prosciutto di Norcia is made in just five municipalities: Norcia, Cascia, Preci, Poggiodomo and Monteleone di Spoleto, all in the region where the epicenter of the October 30 earthquake was recorded.
Raw ham is always produced at an altitude above 500 meters and under climatic conditions that are an integral part of the entire cycle. Other local stars damaged by the earthquakes are liver salami and wild boar sausages, which helped give the city the nickname “capital of sausages”.
Still in Norcia, but in the Castelluccio district, the lentil plantation is threatened, which also has a PGI. The village is just 29 km from the city center, on top of a hill surrounded by valleys, and has almost disappeared from the map.
The fields around it have been known for centuries for planting lentils, grown in limited quantities and which do not need to be treated for conservation. After the earthquake, many farmers do not know what the future will be like or when they will be able to return to live in Castelluccio.
Amatrice is in a similar situation, the city most affected by the earthquake on August 24, the deadliest of all in 2016, with 298 victims. The town is the birthplace of Matriciana pasta, made with guanciale and pecorino cheese, two icons of Italian gastronomy.
The animals were not greatly affected by the earthquake, but small producers suddenly found themselves without a home and no place to house the animals or store the pork cheek and the famous sheep's cheese, also an essential ingredient in carbonara sauce.
Furthermore, one of the main pillars of the local economy was tourism, which collapsed along with much of Amatrice's buildings. So that cheese molds do not accumulate due to a lack of customers, there is even a campaign to encourage the purchase of pecorino.
In the province of Macerata, hit by the earthquake on October 30, winegrowers almost lost 2 bottles of Verdicchio de Matelica, chosen by “Gambero Rosso” magazine as the best Italian white wine. As the producers' warehouses do not have protection against earthquakes, they almost fell to the ground due to the tremor, but ended up escaping. “We discovered to our cost that the reservoirs also need to be anti-seismic,” said Matelica winemaker and Agriculture advisor Roberto Potentini.
And the list doesn't stop there: from Amatriciano ham to Campotosto mortadella, from Sogliano cheese to Norcia black truffle, there are countless artisanal products threatened by the earthquakes of the last two months in central Italy.
Ansa Agency
FOLLOW ITALIANISM
