Among the many apple names, Italy can boast quite a few of its own varieties:
mela annurca, melannurca Campana, rossa del sud, or orcate, from Campania, is the best-known southern variety. Unusually, mele annurche are picked when green and left to ripen in the sun for 10-15 days on beds of straw. They are pictured in Roman wall frescoes from Herculaneum, and now they are DOP.
mela appiola: small, tart, part red and part green.
mela campanina: small tart and green cooking apple from the Po valley. Used for making mostarda di Mantova.
mela cotogne: quince.
mela pera: nashi.
mela renetta: tart apple grown in Trentino (russet).
Others in the Slow Food Presidium:
Image by Alessio Maffeis