The Belendina is a very large and sweet red onion, shaped like a flask, which can reach up to a kilo in weight. In the plain around Andora, along the border between the provinces of Savona and Imperia in Liguria, the climate and alluvial soil of the Merula Valley have created the ideal conditions for its cultivation.
Little is known about its origins. According to popular legend, it came from the sea, brought at the start of the 19th century by Settimio Denegri, a young sailor-turned-farmer from a Turinese family that owned a large stretch of land in Andora.
Gradually the onion spread to all the local vegetable plots, but in the 1960s its cultivation began to decline, in part because many fields were swallowed up by urbanization.
The onion was only saved thanks to a farmer, Trentino Bellenda, known as Trentin, born in 1926, who began cultivating it, producing seeds and distributing them to other farmers in Andora. The name of the variety is a tribute to his dedication.
These days various producers are able to autonomously reproduce the seed. The onions are sown at the start of August and planted out in the fields between February and March. After the harvest, between May and August, the bulbs are left in the field to dry for a week, then stored in dry, well-ventilated rooms.
Sweet but piquant, with a less-intense fragrance than the more celebrated Tropea onion, the Belendina is used in many recipes from along the Ligurian coast. The variety is very versatile, and can be roasted, grilled, baked or battered and fried. It is also excellent as a topping for focaccia or raw, either in salads or simply dressed with extra-virgin olive oil and salt.
Season
They are harvested between May and August, first as green onions and then as ripe onion bulbs
Back to the archive >Now cultivation has been revived by a group of small-scale growers, joined together in a promotional committee. The Slow Food Presidium has been established to raise the profile of the variety, increase the number of farmers and fields and encourage sustainable cultivation techniques—the production protocol does not allow the use of chemical weedkillers or mineral fertilizers.
Production area
Andora municipality, Savona province
Presidium supported by
Comune di Andora
Tel. 335 6600849
info@cipollabelendina.it
Fiorella e Paola Belgrano
Andora (Sv)
Strada Piangrande, 5
Tel. 333 4733273
belgrano.fiorella@libero.it
Antonietta Bianco
Andora (Sv)
Via Castello, 4e
Tel. 338 4768752
famiglia.siribianco@gmail.com
Francesco Ciccione
Andora (Sv)
Strada Piangrande, 32
Tel. 0182 80127 - 339 1007578
domus.serena@libero.it
Ambrogio Elena
Andora (Sv)
Via Merula, 38
Tel. 0182 88396 - 335 5236353
ambrogio.elena@alice.it
Giorgio Guardone
Andora (Sv)
Via Merula, 61a
Tel. 0182 86977 - 338 7214045
azagri75@hotmail.it
P.E.Q. Agri
di Emilio Guastalla
Andora (Sv)
Via San Damiano, 25/b1
Tel. 338 3697852
info@peqagri.it
Francesco Puppo
Andora (Sv)
Via Divizia, 20/a
Tel. 334 3714810
famigliapuppo@libero.it
Marco Gagliolo
Tel. +39 335 6600849
info@cipollabelendina.it
Slow Food Presidium coordinator
Monica Maroglio
Tel. +39 328 8710604
slowfood202@gmail.com