The unsuspected Lucanian village challenging Bronte with its pistachio

Say pistachio and the geolocation is immediate: Bronte. Yet, there is a small village in Basilicata that could rival the fame of the Sicilian town. We are talking about Stigliano, in the province of Matera. Currently, after Bronte, it is the place with the highest pistachio production in Italy, even though Sicilian volumes remain difficult to match.
To be fair, there are also pistachio plantations in Puglia, Tuscany and Calabria, but they are still not very productive due to the recent start of cultivation. As explained by Vincenzo Ricciuti of the Azienda Agricola Vincenzo Maria Ricciuti in Stigliano: «The plant is very slow. Ten years are the minimum time required to achieve economically sustainable production». On the plant, from the fourth or fifth year after planting, it is already possible to obtain the first fruits, but the quantity still does not compensate for production costs. Ricciuti is today the founder of a family that introduced pistachios to Basilicata for the first time.

Lucanian pistachio: a family story

In the 1990s, brothers Innocenzo and Nicola Colangelo decided to plant pistachio trees on the family farm. They travelled to Greece to meet a great expert in agronomy, the rector of the University of Athens, who approved cultivation in Italy. The young pistachio trees arrived at the port of Brindisi and were transported to Contrada Sauro-Capalbi, in the territory of Stigliano, at 350 metres above sea level. Here began the new agricultural adventure of the Colangelo family.

«It started with 5 hectares and today we have reached 30 hectares of pistachio groves», says Vincenzo Ricciuti, agronomist and cousin of the Colangelos, who has taken over the reins of the family business, now spread across 400 hectares of various crops. Ricciuti carries forward the name of Stigliano pistachio, expanding production with new plantations up until 2017, the year of the last replanting.

The Stigliano pistachio

In Stigliano there are other companies experimenting with pistachio cultivation, but with still very low yields and recent plantations (2016–2017). The Ricciuti company, on the other hand, reaches about 300 tonnes per year. Here the preferred variety is the Greek Egina, distinct from the bianca napoletana variety cultivated in Sicily. The Egina variety is larger, with a less intense flavour and is suitable for direct consumption, while the Sicilian version has a more pronounced taste and a higher quantity of oils, both excellent for processing.

Harvesting takes place in September and is carried out mechanically with shakers. As with almonds, pistachios are found inside the hull and, after harvesting, they are hulled and dried with the shell. Afterwards they are ready for commercialisation, while some companies have machines for shelling.

At present, Stigliano pistachio does not yet have the same reputation as that of Bronte. As Ricciuti points out: «There is not yet a consortium and production is concentrated mainly on my company and a few other small businesses». Nevertheless, the Lucanian pistachio is gaining ground: many gelaterias and companies in northern Italy – Milan, Turin, Florence – have chosen it for its qualities. It should be remembered, however, that not all pistachios found in supermarkets or gelaterias are Italian: Turkey, Iran and California are also major producers. In Italy, the main production areas are concentrated in Sicily, Basilicata and a few other regions. And there is nothing wrong in declaring the use of foreign pistachios: transparency is part of respect for the consumer and for the product.