Consorzio del Peperone di Carmagnola

The pepper has had a strong influence on the economy and the food of the Carmagnola area for more than a century. Here the miry, well-drained, easy-to-manage soil and the continental climate with increasingly low rainfall are conducive to the growing of high-quality crops

The production protocol imposed by the producers of the Province of Turin, who formed the Consortium in 1998, defines the desired characteristics of the Carmagnola pepper: hence no chemical fertiliser, exclusively integrated pest management, cultivation restricted to 30 or so communes. Five typologies are recognised, of which four are native to the area: quadrato (square, compact and meaty, good raw or baked); lungo, or long, known locally as “corno di bue”, or ox horn (a Slow Food Presidium, perfect for peperonata and much sought after by restaurateurs), trottola (“spinning top”,  heart-shaped and versatile) and tumaticot (round like a tomato, hence the name, excellent as an antipasto). The early-ripening quadrato allungato, long square, or bragheis, finally, is the only non-native variety.

The peppers are harvested by hand from June to November.

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