Photo by Lillali
On our last trip to Sicily, my cousin handed us some oranges to take with us on our bus ride from Porticello to Catania. It wasn't until later, when we peeled them, that we discovered these weren't our typical, orange-fleshed oranges. In fact, they were Taroccos, blood oranges with ruby red flesh hidden beneath an orange-colored peel and a taste reminiscent of raspberries.
One of three popular arance rosse, the Sicilian-grown Tarocco is actually Italy's most popular table orange. Sweet, seedless, and easy to peel, it also has the highest vitamin C content of the world's oranges.
Citrus fruits, including bitter oranges, were introduced to Sicily as part of the Muslim conquest in the 9th century. However, sweet oranges did not arrive until the late 15th or 16th century when Italian and Portuguese merchants brought their trees into the region.
Starting in the 18th century, Sicily became known for its blood oranges, which also include the Moro and the Sanguinello.
The vibrant flesh color of these oranges comes from the presence of anthocyanins, pigments found in flowers but less commonly in citrus fruits. It's activated when the fruit is exposed to low temperatures during the night and early morning, and the often tougher skin can take on a darker hue than that of more common oranges.
Sicily's blood oranges are protected under PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) certification and grow in the provinces of Syracuse, Catania, and Enna.
Tenuta Serravalle, a company based in Mineo, just over 30 miles southwest of Catania, is a leader among the specialized growers of PGI blood oranges.
The Grimaldi family has run the farm since the 19th century. Today, it's managed by descendant Gerado Diana, who holds a degree in dairy science from Texas A&M University. A proponent of sustainable agriculture in Sicily and active in several industry groups, Gerardo serves as president of the PGI Sicilian Blood Orange Consortium.
Gerardo and I recently spoke about his farm, blood oranges, and orange-derived products.
Tell me about the history of your farm and how it's changed.
They once cultivated rice on our land. This shows how the situation with climate change is very strong. The water was always less and less. Now, our core business is PGI blood oranges production and wheat. We produce wheat that is very resistant to drought and oats. But the main business is oranges and all the products we produce with the oranges, like honey made from the orange flower. My wife is a lawyer, but for the past five years, she's provided hospitality to the people who come and visit the farm.
We are mainly trying to improve upon what our ancestors did. What is very interesting is how all the people and generations have spent their time here making improvements and developing different farming systems. You really understand what people mean when they say that the land is not yours but is of your son.
When so many people work so hard to leave you the soil, this makes you understand how you need to behave and respect nature, cultivation, and the effort that goes into agriculture.
Tell me about your oranges.
PGI blood oranges grow in a certain area, which is out of 34 small cities in three parts of the region of Sicily: Catania, Siracusa, and a small portion of Enna. We have very different temperature variations in these areas from day to night. So, in February, it can be 20 degrees during the day minus 2 degrees in the early morning.
These three varieties of blood oranges—Moro, Tarocco, and Sanguinello—become red to protect against the cold.
Our oranges are PGI (Protected Geographical Indication), which is different from our neighbors because we follow some rules. We need to respect the soil; we need to respect the bees; we need to save water; we need to behave with the people who work with us. So, it's a different way of cultivating. So this is why we always say that PGI products are more guaranteed for the consumer rather than other products.
How have you adjusted your practices to deal with Sicily's current drought?
In the last two years, it has been a continuous pain because we didn't have 40 millimeters of rain on the same day, which is needed for the irrigation of the plants. We have implemented new technology, so it's all drip irrigation. We also have a machine that monitors the soil's humidity level.
Describe your agricultural practices.
More than 600 families of bees help pollinate our oranges. Then, there is the drip irrigation. All the oranges picked for the market and for the table of the European family are picked by hand. Although we are in 2024, no machine works as well as the human hand.
Where are your oranges distributed?
We sell 50% of our PGI oranges in Italy and the rest throughout Europe.
How are your oranges used?
I imagine we have 232 ways of using oranges because there are orange jams, ice creams, and granitas. Some whiskeys are made with oranges. Then there is the special recipe in Sicily, the salad with oranges and onions, which is very good. Some research shows that blood oranges are very good at fighting depression.
What is your favorite way to enjoy oranges?
I'm very simple, so I like to peel my oranges in the morning when I'm on the farm, when it is cold, and when you can smell the smell of nature.
Can you describe how you've diversified your product line with honeys and jams?
My wife [Mariarosa Magnano di San Lio] had the idea. I'm very grateful to her.
Bees are the best indicator of how you run a farm because if the farm is healthy, the bees are healthy. Honey is very important to us; it is basically a way for us to reach new markets.
My wife makes the jam we produce from our fruit without sugar; she adds honey, which is much healthier.
We have sold our honey to people as far as the Philippines. It is really nice to think that the honey from a small town in Sicily goes so far. Lots of people call, and they say they immediately need the honey. They say, "I need it now."
This makes you feel that there are people who appreciate the quality and are also willing to wait one week for their product. We don't use Amazon; our honey leaves the farm and directly reaches the house of the person or family that has bought it.
You give tours. What can visitors expect to see?
It's an old house on top of a hill. To reach the house, you have more than one kilometer of dirt road, all surrounded by oranges, especially blood oranges. Then, there are some wheat and hay fields, and we have nine donkeys near the house. The oldest of them is more than 30 years old, and we keep them because they help clear brush so we can prevent fire and erosion of the soil.
It's as if time has stopped for the house. Then you see the technology on the oranges, which I think is a good mixture of modern and old, between technology and tradition.
What can people take away from their experience at your farm and with your products?
We would like them to understand how important nature and farming are for the whole community. Hopefully, they will understand all the work that goes into growing fruit.
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