What it is
A small, tannic, rough-skinned pear once grown in family mixed orchards for cider-making in the north-western Matese.
Origin place card
The official production zone is Prata Sannita and neighbouring communes, with only a few dozen old trees now surviving in recovery.
Verified history
The source states the pear was historically cultivated across peasant family orchards of the north-western Matese and used exclusively for cider. Treat this as source-supported tradition/history from Regione Campania — Antica pera da sidro del Matese; the current evidence does not independently establish a founder, precise origin date, first attestation, or archival origin beyond that source framing.
Local hypothesis
Its survival in isolated old trees suggests a lost household-cider economy rather than a modern dessert-fruit market.
Local legend / oral tradition
No legend is documented; the emotional layer is disappearance and recovery.
Ingredients
small green-to-brown pears with thick rough skin, white juicy granular flesh, tart/tannic flavour, low sugar, vitamins and mineral salts. Source-supported detail: Descrizione E’ una pera di piccole dimensioni, buccia molto spessa e ruvida al tatto, colore di base verde tendente al marrone in piena maturazione, polpa bianca e succosa, con evidente granulosità.
Method
The supported method is pressing followed by fermentation for cider; no cider formula or proportions are provided. Source-supported detail: Sapore aspro e tannico, povera di zuccheri ma ricca di vitamine e sali minerali.
Ritual / calendar
The source does not give a feast or picking calendar; treat as orchard recovery rather than ritual-food page. Source-supported detail: La antica pera da sidro del Matese è ormai praticamente estinta (esistono poche decine di piante molto vecchie in Prata Sannita).
Why travel for it
This is a pilgrimage page for endangered orchards: Prata Sannita, old trees, and the idea of Matese cider returning.
Recreate-it pathway
Fieldwork should document remaining trees, pressing practice and fermentation memory before presenting a recipe.
Editorial warning
Regione Campania product sheets are descriptive/divulgative; do not present as final technical specification or tested recipe. Keep botany, household memory, hypothesis and legend separate.
Fieldwork questions
Which producers or families still preserve this? What exact harvest window is used locally? Which recipes, shops, festivals or pantry practices can be documented with names, dates and photographs?
Photo brief
gnarled old pear tree, small rough pears, press/cider-memory details if found.