Bronte's Pistachio
The Picking
The brontese pistachio picking is two-yearly and is carried out in the uneven years, towards the end of August and the start of September. Each plant produces from 5 to 15 Kg of tignosella (so is called the fruit when peeled and dried) with maximum peaks of 20-30 Kg.. On the even years, when there is no picking, is carried out what is called the green pruning: the flowering buds in the extensions of the previous year are removed by hand. The green pruning is a tradition that goes back to earliest times - probably to the Arab domination period - and that is handed down from father to son without a continuity solution. Testimony of a culture, the peasant one, according to which, thanks to the "rest", the plant can absorb from the rocky land the necessary substances to produce a fruit richer of fragrance and full of unmistakable flavors.
Every two years (the uneven ones) over 30 thousand quintals of pistachios are picked in Bronte. That represents just the 1% of the world production, but, for our town, represents the most significant economic element both for the surface interested in such cultivation and for the relevant value of the production. Also because of the steep and impervious areas in which this plant is cultivated, and of the danger of dispersion of the crop, the picking is done totally by hand, directly from the tree, and, in some cases, by laying canvas under the trees with considerable use of costly manpower. A game of patient hands smeared by plenty of resin from the branches, a feast and a toil eagerly awaited, to which all the family participates, included women and children. After the picking the fruit, by mechanical rubbing, is"sgrollato" (separated fromits leathery cover) and dried for 3-4 days in the sun, in large open spaces prepared in front of the farm-houses. This way is obtained the pistachio in its shell, locally called Tignosella, kept by the producers, before selling it, in dark and dry rooms. After two years of work and of spending a lot of money the producer's toil is finished. But because of a too low price or of a scarce crop, often it is not possible to recover the relevant cost of financial and physic energies. The last year (2000), for instance, for the adverse climatic conditions, 60% of the crop was lost. |