Breme, a small medieval town with 700 inhabitants, is located in lower Lomellina, the green lung of the Pavia area where the Sesia and Po rivers intersect.
The municipality is rich in historical monuments and, among these, there is the ancient Abbey of San Pietro from the 10th century, where the story of the Breme red onion begins, “sigulla” in dialect: the Benedictine monks, in fact, cultivated this variety in their vegetable garden at the back of the abbey. The first records can be traced back to a chronicle of 906 AD. It is here where we read of some monks from the Novalesa Abbey (in the Turin area), who transferred to Breme to escape the raids of the Saracen barbarians, and who found not only the new headquarters of their congregation, but also the ideal habitat for the cultivation of their vegetables, and in particular for two types of onions, known as the white (or golden) and the red.
The second is an onion which is around six or seven hundred grams, it has a squashed shape and an intense red colour. Thanks to its sweetness, crunchiness and its high digestibility, it has survived over the centuries, and has been cultivated and is known even today with the nickname “dolcissima” (very sweet). These organoleptic characteristics are largely linked to the morphological composition of the land (flat, sandy and of medium compaction), their flood plain origin and the area’s microclimate.
Cultivation is mostly manual, not very different to the method handed down by the Novalesa monks to the people of Breme. Which has then been handed down from generation to generation in Breme, until today. It is a complex process: the seeds are placed in a hessian sack which is wet, when the moon is waning in August; as soon as they germinate, they are sown in a nursery and then, between the end of October and the start of November, the seedlings are transplanted into a field. To preserve the fertility of the land, the crops are rotated, and organic fertilisers are generally used. Every two years, onions are alternated with wheat, peas or other legumes. Weeds are eradicated by hand, without the use of herbicides. Thanks to the morphological characteristics of the soil, which has a high water table during the summer months, it is not necessary to irrigate. The harvest begins in June and lasts for about two months: when the stem begins to dry and folds in on itself, the onions have reached full maturity. Once they are harvested, they are left in the sun for a few hours in the field, after which they are moved to a shady place, where they remain another three or four days to complete the ripening and drying process.
The Breme red onion is the ideal ingredient for jams, compotes, mustards and sweet and sour preparations. In the kitchen it is optimal raw, for example in a Breme salad (with tuna, beans, extra virgin olive oil, salt and vinegar), or even cooked and transformed into soups or omelettes.
Season
Available from June to August
Back to the archive >Slow Food has placed this onion on the Ark of Taste and in 2020 it launched a Presidium to better enhance the work of the producers' association and to preserve this variety. The Presidium’s production procedural guideline pays great attention to soil fertility, citing use of light ploughing, biennial crop rotations and prohibiting the use of herbicides.
Production area
The Municipality of Breme
Supported by
The Municipality of Breme
The Ministry of Labor and Social Policies
The Breme Red Onion Presidium is financed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies, Directorate-General for the Third Sector and Corporate Social Responsibility – notice n° 1/2018 “Slow Food in azione: le comunità protagoniste del cambiamento”, pursuant to article 72 of the Third Sector code, of legislative decree 117/2017
Francesca Abbate
Via Po, 21
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 0384 77049
flaminio.recagni1@virgilio.it
Marco Aceti
Via Dottor Magnani, 13
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 335 1835407
marcoaceti58@gmail.com
Franco Bagna
Via Dante Alighieri, 15
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 338 4268962
silvia.bagna@libero.it
Mattia Bocca Spagnolo
Via Maestra, 118
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 338 3631418
giorgiaderazza160995@gmail.com
Stefan Liviu Buftea
Via Dosso, 17
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 327 0348559
buftea.stefan.liviu@gmail.com
Riccardo Bulgarelli
Via Cozzo, 35
Valle Lomellina (Pv)
Tel. 339 7716111
riccardo.bulgarelli1992@gmail.com
Andrea Cantone
Via Dosso, 21
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 334 1333173
aziendaagricolacantone@gmail.com
La Dolcissima
di Stefano Epis
Via IV Novembre, 16
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 339 6592522
ferramentaepis@outlook.it
Stefano Doni
Via Trinità, 36
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 347 4198508
stefady78@gmail.com
Maurizio Epis
Via Dott. Magnani, 65
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 347 7445960
maurizioepis@gmail.com
Pietro Gastaldello
Via Dott. Avalle, 43
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 347 9676177
pietrogastaldello50@gmail.com
Gianpietro Laporati
Via Cascina Rocchette, 2
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 338 3541353
sabarbieri80@gmail.com
Stefano Laporati
Via Maestra, 30
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 333 2832532
sabarbieri80@gmail.com
Paolo Magnan
Via Stazione, 47
Valle Lomellina (Pv)
Tel. 338 1090552
paolomagnan6@gmail.com
Andreino Migliorati
Cascina San Giovanni, 3
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 339 1942302
Migliorati
di Anna Ferri
Via dei Visconti, 11
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 335 1471689
Sandro Mortarini
Via Dott. Magnani, 117
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 335 1715616
sandro.mortarini@gmail.com
Carlo Padula
Via Dottor Magnani, 97
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 338 1822898
padulacarlo@inwind.it
Matteo Padula
Via Borgo Sesia, 1
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 339 1055584
padulamatteo@libero.it
Francesco Re
Via Trinità, 76
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 338 2659256
francesco000@gmail.com
Luca Righetti
Via Maestra, 56
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 339 5748578
luca.righetti77@gmail.com
Giuseppe Tagliabue
Cascina Rinalda, 1
Breme (Pv)
Tel. 335 7584437
gtagliabue@libero.it
Franco Berzero
Tel. 328 7816360
sindaco@comunebreme.it
Slow Food Presidium coordinator
Franco Ranzani
Tel. 3357875842
info@slowfoodlomellina.com