Melone di Calvenzano
Calvenzano Melon
A melon from a small town south of Bergamo, held in the germplasm bank of the University of Valencia. The rind is thick and netted, the stalk pronounced and left on at harvest, the fruit oval and often very large, 2 to 6 kilos, the flesh dense, warm orange, sweet and heavily perfumed.
Designation
- Certification
- Slow Food Presidium
- Category
- Fruit, vegetables and cereals, fresh or processed
Where it is made
Calvenzano, Bassa Bergamasca
How it is made
It has been kept going by the Calvenzano agricultural cooperative, founded in 1887 and the third oldest in Italy, whose records list the melon from the early 20th century; the oldest members say a grower could buy the land he worked out of it. Its name travelled in the Belle Époque, when melons went from this village straight to the good restaurants of Paris.