Fucino potatoes and carrots PGI

The Patata del Fucino PGI was recognised by the European Union in 2016 (Reg. EU 656/2016). It is round-oval and regular, with light or red skin and yellow flesh, floury or firm depending on the variety; it keeps for a long time.

The Carota dell’Altopiano del Fucino PGI is cylindrical with a rounded tip, smooth skin and an intense orange colour right up to the crown; it is sweet and crunchy, with flesh that snaps «like glass». Over 2,000 hectares of carrots are grown on the plain.

The area is the Fucino plain in the Marsica, province of L’Aquila: about 14,000 flat hectares created by draining the lake, ringed by mountains over 2,000 metres high. The carrot specification covers the land inside the Circonfucense road in the municipalities below.

• Avezzano
• Celano
• Cerchio
• Aielli
• Collarmele
• Pescina
• San Benedetto dei Marsi
• Gioia dei Marsi
• Lecce nei Marsi
• Ortucchio
• Trasacco
• Luco dei Marsi

1. Carrots are sown from February (under protective sheets) to March and April; potatoes are planted between March and May.
2. In summer irrigation is done at night or early in the morning, because of the heat and the wind that sweeps the plain.
3. The carrot harvest starts in July and goes on until September–October; the potato harvest runs from late July to October.
4. In summer carrots are picked early in the morning or in the evening and reach the packing centres within four hours, where they are cooled, washed and packed.
5. Some carrots stay in the ground over winter, covered with soil against frost, and are harvested until April.

Fucino potatoes and carrots are everyday ingredients, but in the Marsica they also have their own traditional dishes.

• Potato gnocchi with tomato sauce or lamb ragù
• Roast potatoes with rosemary, crushed in the pan or cooked «sotto il coppo» in the embers
• Raw carrots in salads, to enjoy their crunch
• Vegetable soups and broths, and sides for meat
• Carrot cakes and desserts

• Store potatoes in a dark, cool place, at around 5–6 °C, away from onions.
• Keep carrots in the fridge, without their tops, in a perforated bag.
• Look for PGI on the label and the yellow and blue European logo.
• Fucino carrots are at their best raw or lightly cooked: they keep their sweetness and crunch.

Photo 1: Fucino potatoes; photo 2: red-skinned potatoes; photo 3: potato flowers; photo 4: carrots from the Fucino plateau; photo 5: the cultivated plain, with Monte Velino behind. Credits: Marica Massaro (CC BY-SA 4.0); Marica Massaro (CC BY-SA 4.0); Marica Massaro (CC BY-SA 4.0); Marica Massaro (CC BY-SA 4.0); Rudy Massaro (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons, resized; the menu icon is also made from photo 1.

Lake Fucino was the third-largest in Italy. The Romans, under Emperor Claudius, already dug an outlet tunnel to lower its waters. It was finally drained in the second half of the 19th century by Prince Alessandro Torlonia, with the work completed in 1878.

Fields of potatoes, cereals, sugar beet and vegetables sprang up on the new plain. With the 1950 land reform the Torlonia estates were given to farmers; since the 1960s the Fucino has become one of Italy’s main vegetable-growing areas.