Consorzio del Peperone di Carmagnola

For more than a century the cultivation of peppers has been an integral part of life and culture in the area around Carmagnola. Here the miry, well-drained, flat terrain and the continental climate – with increasingly low rainfall – are conducive to high-quality produce. A strict protocol drawn up by producers in the provinces of Turin and Cuneo, members of the Consortium for more than 24 years, describes the characteristics of the Carmagnola Pepper denomination. Peppers must be grown exclusively in 36 communes without the use of chemical fertilizers and pests are managed by introducing specific predator insects into the fields. The pepper varieties grown are the quadrato (square, a fleshy four-tipped cube), the quadrato allungato (or, in dialect, bragheis, an early-ripener), the corno di bue (ox horn, long and suitable for preservation, a Slow Food Presidium), the trottola (spinning top, heart-shaped), and the tumaticot (round like a tomato, hence its name). The five typologies characterize the Piedmontese culinary tradition. The harvest, which is carried out by hand, begins at the end of June and may carry on until November.