Consorzio del Peperone di Carmagnola

The quality of the soil and an increasingly favourable climate in the communes around Carmagnola are particularly conducive to pepper growing. The vegetable has been an integral part of the economy and the culture of the area for over a century and has become a symbol of traditional Piedmontese gastronomy. The Carmagnola pepper is included in the consumer price market basket of the province of Turin partly thanks to the production protocol imposed by the producers in the provinces of Turin and Cuneo who have been members of the Consortium since 1998. More specifically, the protocol establishes the desired characteristics of the peppers and bans the use of chemical fertilisers and integrated pest management alone in all 36 communes in the production area.

The five typologies recognised are: the quadrato (or bragheis, cube-shaped and fleshy, excellent both raw and cooked); the tumaticot (round like a tomato, good as an antipasto); the trottola (heart-shaped and versatile), the lungo or corno di bue (a Slow Food Presidium, very long and perfect in a peperonata) and the quadrato allungato (an all-purpose early-ripener).

The peppers are harvested by hand from June to December.

***