Savona Chinotto

In the past, in many Italian and French cafes, on the sales counter, you could find a bowl with a majolica teaspoon full of small green citrus fruits immersed in Maraschino: they were chinotto from Savona, famous and unique for their quality, aroma and excellent reputation as a digestive. The evergreen plant can reach 3 meters in height and develops an incredible amount of fruit and flowers. During the harvest period, between September and November, it is possible to see clusters of small, bright green chinotto fruits among the leaves which, over time, turn orange. The scent they give off is intense and characteristic, a sign of exceptional shelf life, which allows them to be kept for very long periods. It is grown only along the coastal area between Varazze and Pietra Ligure, but it is a plant that is native to China. Around 1500, a navigator from Savona transplanted it to the Ligurian coast and this is where he found an ideal environment for the plant.
The first candying workshop in Liguria dates back to 1877, when Silvestre-Allemand moved to Savona from the city of Apt, in the south-east of France, where it had been actively done since 1780. The reasons for this move to Italy were certainly economically motivated, but also linked to the greater richness and variety of fruit crops found in the Ligurian territory. The variety, acclimatised on the Riviera di Ponente, also proved to be more suitable for processing due to its small size and thicker, more resistant and fragrant skin. It also ripened earlier when compared to other varieties. In a few years, many local establishments were born which, using the techniques introduced by the French, refined the art of candying, laying the foundations for an important tradition of pastries. Towards the end of the 1800s, the “Chinotti Cooperative Society” was founded in Savona which provided for both the cultivation, processing and sale of the fruit. The most intense period of activity of the candied fruit industry occurred between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The good fortune of this product continued until the 1920s, when short-sighted economic policies and an unusual succession of winter frosts marked the beginning of the crisis. A crisis that continues today: only a few chinotto plants are still cultivated in the Savona area and the conservation of the species is entrusted to botanical gardens and nurseries.
Only a few pastry shops still candied chinotto di Savona: these citrus fruits can in fact only be consumed candied – they are too bitter when they are fresh – or they can also be consumed in syrup. Processing begins with an immersion in brine – in the past, sea water was used – which lasts for about three weeks. The citrus fruits are then cleaned by hand to remove the thin layer of peel which contains the most bitter extracts and aromas, and then put back in the brine. After these steps the chinotto are ready to be transformed with successive boiling in sweet syrups of increasing concentrations and finally placed in liqueur, preferably Maraschino, or candied.

Season

Harvested from mid-September to late November, the fruit are also processed for consumption during the year.