The Nizza Monferrato hunchback cardoon is an essential ingredient in one of the symbols of Piedmontese gastronomy, bagna caoda, a boiling-hot sauce of garlic, extra-virgin olive oil and anchovies served with vegetables. Sown in May in the sandy soil along the Belbo River, the cardoons become “hunchbacks” thanks to an unusual cultivation technique. In September the tall, bushy plants are folded and covered with earth. As they try to free themselves and reach the light, they swell and curve. The stems lose all their chlorophyll, becoming white and tender. After a month they are uncovered and the leaves and any damaged parts are cut off, leaving the crisp, sweet heart. Hunchback cardoons can be stuffed, fried, made into soup or prepared in many other ways.
Season
The harvest begins in the first week of October and lasts unti February.
Production area
Comuni di San Marzano Oliveto, Rocchetta Palafea, Nizza Monferrato, Incisa Scapaccino, Canelli, Calamandrana, Castelnuovo Belbo, Vaglio Serra, Vinchio
Presidium supported by
Enoteca Regionale di Nizza Monferrato e Comuni di Nizza Monferrato, Bruno, Calamandrana, Canelli, Castelnuovo Belbo, Incisa Scapaccino, San Marzano Oliveto, Vaglio Serra e Vinchio
Lorenzo Agatiello
Strada Sernella, 14
Nizza Monferrato (At)
Tel. 324 8931393
toni.agatiello@gmail.com
Giuseppina Amerelli
Via Valle Asinari, 8
San Marzano Oliveto (At)
Tel. +39 339 5043354
Davide Barbero
Regione Tesole, 10
Rocchetta Palafea (At)
Tel.+39 389 4868123
barbe2008@hotmail.it
Leo Carozzo
Via S.M.D. Mazzarello, 105
Nizza Monferrato (At)
Tel. +39 331 811204
aziendaagricolacarozzoleo@gmail.com
Mauro Damerio
ia San Michele, 39
NIzza Monferrato (At)
Tel. +39 333 7996186
dameriomauro@gmail.com
Il Germoglio di Laura Panaro
Via Regione Saline 34
San Marzano Oliveto (At)
Tel. +39 340 7730071
info@ilgermoglioverde.it
www.ilgermoglioverde.it
Maria Teresa Guerrina
Via Montechissone, 11
Incisa Scapaccino (At)
Tel.+39 347 5630683
guerrina.mt@gmail.com
Pierlorenzo Pavese
Via Cortiglione, 66
Incisa Scapaccino (At)
Tel.+39 349 6493238
pavesepierlorenzo@alice.it
Vittorio Quaglia
Via Piana, 8
Incisa Scapaccino (At)
Tel.+39 346 2143947
quavit@inwind.it
Walter Roggero
Strada Piazzaro, 4
Nizza Monferrato (At)
Tel. +39 349 4755109
roggerowalter@yahoo.it
Sergio Scaglione
Strada Lavecchia, 6
Nizza Monferrato (At)
Tel.+39 328 3573779
scaglione_sergio@libero.it
Transformer
Maddalena di Patrizia Onesti
Reg. Mariano 35/E
Canelli (At)
Tel. + 39 333 3626706
info@nonnamaddalena.it
www.nonnamaddalena.it
Vittorio Quaglia
tel. +39 346 2143947
quavit@inwind.it
Slow Food Presidium Coordinator
Piercarlo Albertazzi
Tel. +39 335 5348611
pieralbertazzi@gmail.com
