L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano E very September, Calabria turns r e d . O n b a l - conies and along s u n n y w a l l s , strings of peperoncini sway in the breeze, a sign that the harvest has begun and that kitchens across the region are getting ready for a year of heat. The sight is so common that locals barely notice it, yet for visitors it says a lot about this corner of southern Italy: it speaks of strong flavors, practical traditions, and a way of working with the climate rather than against it. C h i l e s reached Europe after the first voyages across the Atlantic and spread quick- l y t h r o u g h I b e r i a a n d t h e Mediterranean: Calabria, with its long sunny season, sea air, and well-drained soils, proved to be an ideal home. More- over, the crop was inexpen- sive to grow and easy to pre- serve, which made it valuable i n a r u r a l e c o n o m y w h e r e households needed to stretch basics and add flavor to sim- p l e d i s h e s . P e p e r o n c i n o became a "pantry tool" from the very start: a handful of dried flakes could lift a pot of beans or tomatoes; its powder colored fresh sausages; whole pods slipped into jars of oil- perfumed winter vegetables. Over time, the habit became an identity marker for the region. T h e g r o w i n g y e a r i s straightforward: seeds are s t a r t e d i n l a t e w i n t e r a n d seedlings go into the ground in spring after the risk of cold passes. Plants flower and fruit through summer, but the big push to pick comes in Sep- tember, when the sun is still strong and the days are long enough to dry the crop well. Harvest is manual, with farmers and home gardeners going row by row with small shears, choosing pods that are fully colored, glossy, and firm: here, you want to cut cleanly without stressing the plant, which will keep producing into October. This is steady work, often done in the morn- ing when the fruit is cooler and easier to handle; while in the fields, many also begin sorting, choosing perfect pep- pers for stringing, thinner o n e s f o r d r y i n g l o o s e a n d grinding, and small hot types h e a d e d s t r a i g h t f o r t h e kitchen. Drying is where tradition shows the most: many fami- lies like to make serte, long strings of peppers threaded with needle and twine, then hang them under eaves or on balcony rails where air circu- lates but rain does not reach. The goal is slow dehydration with as little direct midday sun as possible, so the color stays bright and the flavor deepens without scorching; in some villages, people finish the process indoors near a window or in shaded court- yards. Once the peppers are fully dry, they can be crushed into flakes (peperoncino in scaglie), ground to a fine powder (peperoncino maci- nato), or packed into jars to use whole. Calabria grows many types of peperoncino and each has its own niche. The small, slim Diavolicchio is the everyday workhorse, easy to dry and hot enough to wake up any sauce. On the Monte Poro plateau near the Tyrrhenian coast, growers favor the Tri Pizzi, a three-pointed pepper tied to the area's cured meats. In the Val di Crati, north of Cosenza, the Roggianese ripens to a strong red and is often sold in strings. When it comes to the words used by locals for peperoncino, they c a n c h a n g e f r o m t o w n t o town, with dialect words like pipi or pipazzu being often used. O n c e i t ' s d r i e d a n d prepped, Calabrian peperon- cino is ready for the kitchen. Who doesn't know – and love – 'nduja , the spreadable salume from Spilinga made with pork and a generous dose of local peperoncino, aged just enough to round the edges but keep vivid color and heat? Here, the pepper truly defines the product, helping with preservation and giving it its unmistakable taste. Along parts of the Ion- ian coast, you find sardella, also called rosamarina, a seasoned paste of tiny fish and pepper that is stirred into pasta or spread on bread. I n e v e r y d a y c o o k i n g , crushed pepper perfumes the oil that starts a tomato sauce o r a q u i c k p a n o f g r e e n s , while a sprinkle of it finishes fileja, the region's twisted pasta, or seasons fried egg- plant and zucchini. Even sim- ple salads of oranges, onion, and olives get a lift from a pinch of flakes. Because the harvest peaks in September, the month has become a time of peperonci- no-based celebrations: the town of Diamante, on the Tyrrhenian coast, hosts a Peperoncino Festival with stalls selling everything from fresh and dried peppers to sauces and flavored oils, all c o m p l e t e d w i t h c o o k i n g demonstrations, tastings, and plenty of talk about varieties and cultivation methods. The event grew with the help of the Accademia Italiana del Peperoncino, founded in the 1990s by journalist Enzo Monaco. T h e r e a r e a l s o o t h e r , smaller autumn events dot- t i n g t h e m a p , a n d m a n y towns hold food fairs where p e p e r o n c i n o i s o n e g u e s t among many. If you are trav- eling later in the season, look f o r l o c a l c e l e b r a t i o n s o f sweet, mildly hot peppers under names like Zafarana, which show the gentler side of the crop and the skill that goes into drying and roasting without losing texture. Markets are at their most colorful this time of the year, too, with strings of red next to wedges of pecorino, jars of tuna in oil, and stacks of fresh bread ready to be torn and seasoned. In recent years, there has been more talk about formal recognition for Peperonci- no di Calabria as a regional product. This kind of label would set rules for cultivation and processing and help con- sumers know what they are buying. While labels cannot represent everything people value, they speak to a broader effort to keep quality high and to give small producers a fair place in the market. In this sense, the recognition would be very important. However, what matters most is perhaps the knowl- edge behind Calabria's peper- oncino culture: when to pick, h o w t o d r y , h o w m u c h t o grind, which dishes need a whisper of heat and which can take a shout. If you walk through a Cal- abrian town on a warm Sep- tember afternoon, you can see the cycle at once: fields still heavy with fruit, door- w a y s w h e r e s o m e o n e i s t h r e a d i n g a n e w s t r i n g , kitchens where a pan of garlic and oil meets a pinch of red. The history of the pepper here is present, visible, prac- tical, and renewed with each h a r v e s t . T h a t i s w h y t h e month of red strings is so important; it marks another turn of the year, another sup- p l y p u t b y , a n d a n o t h e r chance for Calabria to share a flavor that found its home in all Italian kitchens. CHIARA D'ALESSIO Calabria's red season: the history and tradition of peperoncino Calabrian chili peppers, in all their colorful glory (Photo: Raquel Camacho Gomez/Dreamstime) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

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