THE SBECCIATRICE, NOT ONLY TOMATO CURLY

We met the brothers Barbiero nel 2014, on the occasion of great celebration organized by Franco Pepe for the presentation of the supply chain Pizza del Territorio [the story which].

Domenico and Michele – for all Mimmo and Lino – are the founders of the farm La Sbecciatrice. A small company Casertano, He is known to be the supplier for the renowned pizzeria Pepe Beans the precious urchin tomato, key ingredient of Margherita sbagliata (pizza of the year awarded by Gambero Rosso in 2016 and still riding the local battle Caiatine).

But it would be simplistic to identify the company with a single product.

The Sbecciatrice is above all a project; the result of the stimuli that have deep roots (farmers grandparents, old local farmers) and they materialized in 2012 with the birth of the company.
What the brothers Barbiero is not simply a return to basics. It is the desire to preserve and multiply the plant biodiversity Casertano, through the recovery of local ecotypes.
It all starts from the seeds: gleaned in the family, found in old jars, gleaned from the elderly "keepers farmers' area, They are looked like relics from year to year and planted to hand down traditional local crops.

Il Pomodoro riccio, ad esempio, This is an old cultivar in facility for more than a century of Villa Santa Croce, small village of Piana di Monte Verna. It is particularly suited to clay soil of the place, no need water, It is resistant to drought and is rich in polyphenols.
Berry has spoken coasts (from which the name "hedgehog") and very thin skin, for which reason must be collected in the morning so that there is no moisture that might harm her.

The hedgehog tomato

Domenico Barbiero

After hand-picking - which takes place in July and August - the tomatoes are laid on straw, selected and left to dry for a few days; quindi, in response to a second selection, They are ready to go in the company laboratory.
Già, The Sbecciatrice because they chose not to sell fresh produce but only transformed, in order to preserve intact the organoleptic properties.
The hedgehog tomato therefore ends up in the glass in the form of pacchetelle, passed and passed with cherry tomatoes.
Recently it also born a hedgehog with tomato sauce sugar, aceto, onion and spices, a kind of homemade ketchup perfect filling for sandwiches or to accompany meat.

Among other typical cultivated on these hills, all fully biological, different types of legumes.

One in particular is a great satisfaction: the Bean lenzariello, which borrows its name from the small plots in which it develops such "land lines" in dialect.
Planted in May and harvested in August, is an absolutely natural product grown without treatments, growing in symbiosis with maize and is eradicated manually.
[A touch of color: in his previous life to that of farmer, For years, in existing fields, Dominic used to organize a very popular rave party!]
Bianco, thin-skinned, easy to digest, the lenzariello was recently ennobled by the scientific support of an experimental thesis that highlighted its unique characteristics: football is indeed very rich, ferro, magnesium and zinc, with much higher values ​​compared to common beans.
A shorter waiting even a second academic publication by another graduate student.
In azienda, lenzarielli the beans are boiled with water, bay leaves and salt from Trapani Slow Food Presidium, and packaged in a jar without preservatives or colorings, also in the form of cream.

The bean lenzariello

More rare is the Bean curniciello or munaciello. Ancient origins, brown color reminiscent of his habit of monaco, It has been played for years, but only since last season has achieved a sufficient quantity for sale. It has a unique flavor, not comparable to other. It is also made a version with tomato sauce.

Characteristic of the complex is also Cece of Caiatine hills. From urban animal which, I only found out at the "SbecciaTour" aboard Domenico tractor Pod of peas is very small and contains only one or two seeds.
these white chickpeas also end up among the ingredients of the pizza of Franco Pepe.

The chickpea of ​​Caiatine hills

The only non-local ecotype grown from La Sbecciatrice is Cece nero.
The company's production also includes Oliva Caiazzana pickled Slow Food Presidium, Hard Wheat Senator Hats (with which they are in the course of production of homemade pasta experiments) jams and fruit and vegetables.

Il point of sale La Sbecciatrice in Villa Santa Croce is the old building in which the grandmother Antonietta, today 94enne, He kept the drinks of his inn managed until the mid-70s.

Grandparents also also held the millers activities, and it is from a tool used by them, the svecciatrice, that the grandchildren have borrowed the name for their company, utilizzandone the local dialect form.

The determination not to dissipate the past, the sense of belonging to the territory, their efforts in the enhancement of ancient cultivars and recovery of biodiversity Casertano make La Sbecciatrice a virtuoso of "peasant resistance as", those who will not bow to purely commercial logic giving up the quality of earnings for.
The means and the cheap tricks to increase quantity over priceless local agricultural heritage are to be found elsewhere: here only apply imperatives which respect, care and dedication.

Azienda Agricola La Sbecciatrice
Via Villa Santa Croce, 137 – Piana di Monte Verna, Caserta
such. 339/1216016
www.lasbecciatrice.it