Known as the “piatta viola” (flat violet), this onion is an antiquated cultivar now grown near Treviglio.
It is reproduced using the seeds that the plant produced in the previous year. The bulb that is grown to obtain the seed develops a stem that is just over a meter high. It is leafy at the base and has an umbrella shaped inflorescence at the top. Once the flowers dry up, it is possible to collect the black seeds inside the pods.
The shoot that emerges from the ground is very particular, it looks similar to a hook and it extends like a stringy whip; the growth of the bulb begins from this phase, which occurs almost completely underground. This makes harvesting more difficult when the leaves are dry and wilted. The sowing of the flat onion takes place when there is a waning moon in February, it is done on well fertilised soil that has been prepared prior to winter. After about thirty days the sprouts begin to emerge, and the weeds are removed. Harvesting takes place at the end of August, or at the beginning of September after the plants have been in the field for 6 months. Until the 1960s, the harvest was strictly done manually, even in the largest of fields. To obtain a shimmering purple colour, the farmers tried to choose a harvest period that guaranteed at least 3 days of good weather, otherwise the rain could make the bulbs an opaque colour.
The Treviglio flat violet onion has a flat bulb, formed by concentric fleshy white tunics with pink shades and covered with red-violet membranes. This onion is mainly used for sautéing while the small onions that are harvested can also be pickled.
In the second half of the twentieth century, the Treviglio flat violet onion was sold in Milan, Bergamo and Como. Today its cultivation takes place mostly in the family gardens of Treviglio for consumption within the family.
The research activities necessary for the reporting of this product in the Ark of Taste online catalogue were financed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, the General Directorate of the Tertiary Sector and Corporate Social Responsibility – notice n° 1/2018 “Slow Food in action: communities protagonists of change”, pursuant to Article 72 of the Tertiary Sector Code, referred to in Legislative Decree No. 117/2017.
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