I PARCHI LETTERARI® IN CALABRIA “JOURNEYS TO THE FUTURE OF MEMORY” - PRODUCTS FROM THE EARTH

"This magnificent province is fertile beyond measure. Not only does all that is needed for life grow there, but also all that is needed for pleasure and excess […]. All of the mountains and the valleys are useful and productive. There is a great abundance of all types of wheat, wine and fruit, all of the highest quality. The same can be said for the oil, the cheeses, the sugar, the honey, the wax, the saffron, the cotton, the anise, the coriander which is found in great quantities, as well as the resin, the tar, the turpentine and the snowdrop bushes. There are also gold, silver and iron mines [.].
On the shores of both of the seas, as well as in the hinterland, there are the most beautiful groves of lemons, citrons and oranges of all types. The country is rich with sources of water, both large and small, as well as dense pine, maple, larch and oak forests in the Apennine hills where the Agaric mushroom, white and perfumed, grows, lighting up the night.”
Hieronymus Megiser, author of Neapolitan Delicacies, which appeared in Leipzig in 1605.

The name "Calabria" supposedly derives from "Kalon-brion", which means "I bring forth good things", for the fertile territory and it can be considered a synonym of the word "Ausonia" which comes from the verb "auxo-abbondo". In fact, even today the entire coastal area (within the context of history), is rich with vast olive groves, citrus groves, vineyards and fruit orchards with the production of such traditional agricultural products as bergamot and citron and the production of vegetables, cereals and fruit has always been abundant and these products are widely exported today.
The agricultural-forest products and the rural areas continue to be a robust feature of Calabria’s economic and social system.

Calabria is a region of perfumes...

Bergamot and Jasmine are among the most typical products of Calabrian agriculture. In fact this is the only place in the world where Bergamot grows. There are no culinary uses for Bergamot, it is cultivated in order to extract an oil from its rind that is used to make a variety of precious perfumes. And the extremely fragrant Jasmine flower, with its distinctive aroma that can be smelled all along the coast that runs from Reggio to Stilo, is also used in the perfume industry. Each night, the flowers bloom like many small stars, and just like stars they “die” when the sun rises and must be picked early in the morning.
Aromatic and ornamental plants abound in Calabria: lavender, basil, oregano, the angelic herb Acacia, geraniums, roses, etc. Just by naming them it seems that one can smell the perfumes that Mother Nature decided to concentrate in this land.

...and spices

And from the sense of smell to the sense of taste in this region that must be experienced with all five senses, from aromas to the spicy flavour of hot peppers in the cuisine of Calabria, where it is hard to find a dish that does not contain this ingredient… to the table!