What it is
A Trevico potato from varieties such as Spunta, Kennebec, Monalisa, Marabel, Draga and Desiree, grown without irrigation in suitable siliceous-calcareous soil.
Origin place card
Production is documented in the comune of Trevico in Avellino province.
Verified history
The source says documents show potato cultivation in Trevico already in 1810; agronomist Cassitto had introduced the crop years earlier to address hunger and later recorded its spread among local peasants. Treat this as source-supported tradition/history from Regione Campania — Patata di Trevico; the current evidence does not independently establish a founder, precise origin date, first attestation, or archival origin beyond that source framing.
Local hypothesis
The page should become a hunger-history page: not glamour, but the bulb that changed a mountain people’s diet and economy.
Local legend / oral tradition
No legend documented; the human layer is agronomic memory and food security.
Ingredients
Oval or elongated potatoes with yellow or red skin, yellow flesh, defined starch and mineral content. Source-supported detail: Osservazioni sulla tradizionalità La coltivazione della patata a Trevico è testimoniata da documentazione storica, infatti tali documenti evidenziano che le patate erano coltivate già nel 1810.
Method
Deep plough September/October, refine in March, plant 15 March-15 April, hoe and ridge, harvest 15 August-15 September; rotate with cereals. Source-supported detail: Descrizione delle metodiche di lavorazione, condizionamento, stagionatura Il lavoro di aratura profonda, non meno di 35 cm viene effettuata nei mesi di settembre o ottobre, in modo che gli agenti atmosferici invernali disgregano le zolle più grosse.
Ritual / calendar
Non si procede all'irrigazione in nessuna delle fasi di coltivazione, il che, assieme alla elevata escursione termica giornaliera, conferisce alla polpa un minore contenuto in acqua in favore di un più alto contenuto in amidi, nutrienti e sali minerali.
Why travel for it
A famine-to-pride potato page: Trevico, dry fields, strong starch and Cassitto’s 1810/1818 documentation of potatoes helping feed the people.
Recreate-it pathway
Do not invent a dish. Field local preparations that still honour the Trevico potato.
Editorial warning
The source contains unusually strong historical narrative; quote sparingly and paraphrase in final public copy.
Fieldwork questions
Can we find Cassitto’s original documents? Which Trevico families still tell the potato-as-food-of-the-people story?
Photo brief
Trevico high fields, historical document motif, potato harvest sacks.