What it is
A small red tomato from the Baronia/Ufita area, traditionally reproduced by local seed and used fresh, for industry and for storage.
Origin place card
The page belongs to inland Avellino: Flumeri, Grottaminarda, Sturno, Vallata, San Nicola Baronia, San Sossio Baronia, Castel Baronia and Carife.
Verified history
The official page notes that the crop was once limited to family gardens and expanded after the decline of tobacco cultivation. Treat this as source-supported tradition/history from Regione Campania — Pomodorino dell'Ufita; the current evidence does not independently establish a founder, precise origin date, first attestation, or archival origin beyond that source framing.
Local hypothesis
The tomato’s identity seems to come from a post-tobacco agricultural shift layered over older household-garden seed continuity.
Local legend / oral tradition
No legend is documented.
Ingredients
La successiva trasformazione prevede, effettuata la cernita ed il lavaggio delle bacche, la bollitura delle stesse intere e private del peduncolo, e quindi inscatolate con aggiunta di succo di pomodoro in banda stagnata o nel vetro, aggiunto di sale, e
Method
Transplant from late April to early May, train vertically with supports, harvest in waves from late summer into early October, and transform by washing, boiling whole, packing with tomato juice and sterilising. Source-supported detail: Descrizione delle metodiche di lavorazione, condizionamento, stagionatura Le condizioni ambientali e di coltura devono essere quelle tradizionali della zona, e comunque atte a conferire al prodotto che ne deriva le specifiche caratteristiche di qualità.
Ritual / calendar
Nicola Baronia, San Sossio Baronia, Castel Baronia, Carife), in provincia di Avellino.
Why travel for it
This is the tomato page for Baronia: the inland road version of Campania’s tomato mythology.
Recreate-it pathway
Produce/provenance page: do not publish invented quantities; recover and test local recipes or preparation variants before final A+ recipe status.
Editorial warning
Do not overstate antiquity; the source explicitly frames expansion after tobacco decline.
Fieldwork questions
Which farms still save seed locally? Are there still household recipes distinct from industrial preserve use?
Photo brief
Baronia fields, red small tomatoes, vertical supports, jarred whole tomatoes.