Antichi Meloni Reggiani
Reggiani Ancient Melon Varieties
Melons have a long history in the Reggiano, and in the reclaimed valleys between Novellara, Guastalla and Santa Vittoria they were real income for labourers and smallholders selling at the local markets. All three groups were grown: the netted reticulatus, the smooth flat-ended cantalupensis and the long-keeping elliptical inodorus, the winter melons. Some of those local strains survive, though they take finding.
Designation
- Certification
- Slow Food Presidium
- Category
- Fruit, vegetables and cereals, fresh or processed
Where it is made
Novellara, Guastalla and Santa Vittoria, Reggio Emilia province
How it is made
The ramparino, a reticulatus, is medium-small with pale green flesh, very fragrant, and tastes strong to the point of peppery; it climbs happily up nets and supports, which is where its name comes from. A green climbing melon appears in texts from the turn of the 20th century, and the mlòun ramparèin by name in Carlo Casali's 1915 booklet on plant names in Reggio dialect. Across the Po in the Rovigo country the same melon was called peverin, for the same heat.