At the pizzerias of No900 not only can you taste an authentic Neapolitan pizza with our rediscovered tomato, but you can also buy the jars directly and discover the taste of an ancient time, even in Canada.

With a special invitation, placed right next to the label: “Visitez les terrasses de Re Fiascone sur la côte Amalfitaine”. A promotion not only for our tomato but also for the Amalfi Coast thus enhancing a quality production that has always been cultivated in this geographical area.

Thanks to all this, many abandoned terraces of the Amalfi Coast are reviving.

There are many small seeds that are sprouting.

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Tradition, history, entrepreneurial skills and the right amount of innovation have made the Tramonti pizza makers an international benchmark.

The pizza from Tramonti with the tomato ‘’Re Fiascone’’

Stories tell that this food has been part of the traditions of Tramonti since the Middle Age. People used ancient ovens to bake the so-called ‘pizza base’ made of rye flour, germanella, millet and barley. They ate the pizza freshly baked and seasoned just with spices and lard. Luckily the tradition didn’t stop and continued until the beginning of 20^th century.

Following the mass emigration during the 1950s, many pizza makers started their business in the largest cities in the North, even in the United States. Together with pizza, they also brought the mozzarella as the dairy tradition. Then, pizza and mozzarella became an inseparable pair, together with the King Umberto tomato and olive oil.

The community of Tramonti have decided to preserve this tradition and to maintain the unique characteristics of its pizza by the means of the De.Co. label (Municipal Designation), allowing to preserve the historical memories and local traditions.

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This tomato variety, also known as “Fiascone“, is excellent for preparing sauce or preservation. It was cultivated in Italy for over a century and sold by all major seed companies. Also, the famous San Marzano tomato originated from it.

King Umbert tomato in an old pubblication

The Sgaravatti catalogues published between 1910 and 1940 described this tomato as a must-have product. It is considered an excellent tomato type because of its intense flavour and a very generous production, thanks to its vigorous plants.

Unfortunately, the seeds were confused and mixed up with another varieties. It became more and more difficult to find them, also due to their removal from the biodiversity register of Ense (the official entity responsible for controlling seeds at the time). Yet it was one of the few national tomato types appreciated and grown in many parts of the world.

The King Umberto tomato was mentioned by the French historic 18^th century company Vilmorin-Andrieux, well-known for its contribution to the botanical and the agronomic knowledge. In the famous book ‘The Vegetable Garden‘ it was described as an oval-shaped but flat on the sides tomato which grows in bunches from 5 to 10 tomatoes. In addition, the Institute of General Agronomy and Herbaceous Cultivation at University of Naples has made many illustrations currently kept at the Museum della Reggia in Portici.

In Tramonti, Amalfi Coast, the tomato has been cultivated since the 1900s and the seeds were spread from hand to hand in all 13 villages which form this town. Each household had its own land used for growing this tomato. Every summer, when the tomatoes reached their peak of ripeness, early in the morning the farmers harvested and put them in glass jars. The term ‘Fare le bottiglie‘ is still used nowadays and literally means ‘To do the bottles‘. A product that could be found in every family and lasted throughout the year, a main ingredient for many traditional dishes.

However, here in Tramonti we have also faced the decline in cultivation over the years, mainly because of the replacement by other varieties. ‘Fiascone’ would have been forgotten if the local farmers had not guarded them. They have preserved and donated the seeds to Acarbio Association in order to distribute them to those who had interest in the rural biodiversity of the area and wanted to start a new chapter in the tradition.

The history of the King Umberto tomato is symbolic for understanding that without the ‘guardians of biodiversity‘ many varieties would become extinct.

Even today the King Umberto is considered a rare tomato variety and is preserved by some ‘Seed Savers‘ from different countries around the world.

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We are a group of people who have gathered in 2009 to establish the Associazione Costiera Amalfitana Riserva Biosfera (Acarbio). Our mission is to expand our activities related to environmental issues and sustainable development of UNESCO heritage. We are also involved in biodiversity and recovery of endangered agricultural products.

The headquarters of Acarbio (Tramonti, Amalfi Coast)

In order to recover the King Umberto tomato, locally known as Fiascone, we have been cooperating with the CRA/ Research Centre for Horticulture in Pontecagnano and the Comitato dei Distretti Rurali Aree Interne e Protette della Regione Campania (the Committee of Rural Districts of Internal and Conserved areas of the Campania Region) since 2012.

We have connected scientific knowledge and rural world with the scope to encourage the local agriculture sector, composed of small farmers, not to abandon their farms but to realise growing economic potential by recovering an ancient tomato variety on the verge of extinction, such as the King Umberto tomato.

Thanks to our shared activities and projects related to the environment and youth, we are in close contact with many organisations around the world, which support our projects.

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