Mandorla di Toritto

The Slow Food Presidium almond that defines the town

The almond is Toritto's pride. The Filippo Cea variety, also called the Mandorla di Toritto, has a thin, papery shell and a soft, sweet kernel high in oil — flavours that pastry chefs across Italy seek out for their pasta reale, confetti, and almond paste. The trees, gnarled and silvery, cover the hills around the town in patches still farmed largely by hand.

In late February and early March the orchards burst into pale-pink blossom, briefly turning the Murgia into something out of a Japanese painting. The harvest happens in late August. Several producers around Toritto sell direct — ask at the town hall or look for signs along the road to Grumo Appula. A bag of raw almonds, a bottle of almond oil, or a packet of confetti make the journey worthwhile.

things to do sight
A story
The Filippo Cea variety, named after the farmer who selected it in the early twentieth century, almost disappeared in the 1980s when growers switched to higher-yielding Californian almonds. Slow Food recognised it as a Presidium product in 2007, and today around fifty smallholders share the work of keeping it alive — each tree producing a handful of kilos a year.