The split of Cherry tomato natural and that of grilled Brindisi violet artichoke, Racale capers in apple vinegar and Amatriciana sauce are the new entries in the rich assortment of preserves produced by The farmers, a farm in Ugento, in the lower Salento, the heel of Italy. A small but not very small production in the countryside behind Torre San Giovanni and some of the most beautiful beaches of the Ionian coast of Puglia, famous as the Italian Maldives. A production a closed supply chain from field to table: literally. In addition to cultivation in 52 hectares of land spread across various plots, between the fiefdoms of Ugento, Nardò and Galatina, and which involves a staff of 50 collaborators, the Salento company has a concept store in Monza, a restaurant with a shop opened four years ago where people can taste and buy the maison products.
The Trentin brothers: from left, Edoardo, Gianna and Emanuele
The company with a sea view
I Contadini was created in 2003 by brothers Edoardo, Emanuele and Gianna Trentin, with Venetian roots in entrepreneurship (their father Ennio worked in the fashion sector) and Apulian roots in the land. The starting point was thefarm founded in the 1970s by his maternal grandfather Fiumano, of which his grandchildren took over the reins. «Never done agriculture, but we spent our childhood in the land of origin of our mother, we grew up there – smiles Edoardo, head of the coordination of the agricultural company, while Emanuele and Gianna manage the production laboratory – the link with this part of the Our DNA has always been very strong and has decided our path.”
Grandfather Fiumano
A bond strengthened by an opportunity offered by destiny. «In 2008 we saw a sign, “land for sale in Ugento”. My brothers and I saw it and fell in love with it. An uncultivated and abandoned piece of land but fresh and ventilated, perfect for the natural drying of vegetables, a countryside with a view of the sea and the Torre San Giovanni lighthouse.” The beating heart of the Trentin company is born here, where you can have a true agricultural experience, iContadini Experience: the starting point is precisely the natural balcony with the sea on the horizon where in summer you can enjoy the spectacle and the coolness under a centuries-old Walloon oak, even when the thermometer reads 40 degrees.
Faces burned by the sun, hands in the earth and its fruits
It is not difficult to fall in love with this Apulian agricultural reality, which today represents a bright model of rural entrepreneurship at a national level. Just browse the website and see the faces of its “farmers” with their faces burnt by the sun, their hands marked by the work of the land, the transparencies of the vegetables, true rurality in all its expressions. But it is above all their products that make you fall in love: vegetable pickles, creams and pâtés, herbs and condiments, jams and marmalades, olives, oil, wine, beer. In recent years also pasta and baked products including biscuits, friselle, snacks and taralli (10 flavors of which the latest in the sweet version), made with the company’s Sentire Cappelli durum wheat and transformed in partnership with local companies.
Over 120 references that taste of good land, sun and wind of this triangle of Puglia overlooking the sea. They tell of the honesty of the Trentin brothers and the team of collaborators, who in these 20 years have never given in to compromises, maintaining the firm points of the mission – quality, craftsmanship, authenticity – and the enthusiasm of the early days. Everything is done by hand, from harvesting to processing in the laboratory, carried out above all by women, who unwrap, cut, groom, grill, season and put into jars with skill, care and patience. The vegetables are dried strictly under the Salento sun and wind, concentrating their flavor and aromas: 100% natural from sun to salt.
The values and good practices of farmers
The twenty-year journey of the Ugento company has always been based on strong values since its origins. In addition to quality and authenticity (no artificial preservatives are used), sustainability has always been its focus: a photovoltaic system produces the energy used in the production phases, water saving systems are used, cultivation has a low environmental impact through the integrated agriculture system, crop rotations, organic fertilization and the creation of a synergistic vegetable garden. Enhancement of the territory and protection of native varieties, naturalness, respect for the seasons and times of nature, transparency in the protocols of the manufacturing processes and in the label are the other musts of the Trentin brothers.
News from the Farmers
The Racale caper in apple vinegar is only the latest product obtained by the company caper, more delicate and quicker to use for those who are not familiar with cooking compared to the excellent one in whole salt, which won the Gambero Rosso ranking, preceding the most famous of Salina and Pantelleria, «but also here in Puglia there is the caper tradition but it has never been valorised and exported» comments Edoardo. The natural cherry splits complete the wide assortment of variations of the tomato, historical glory of the farmers of Ugento, also offered dry ready to eat, dried, natural, transformed into sauces, peeled, pureed, pesto, pâté and ” essence”.
There is also ample space for the Brindisi violet artichoke with around ten products including the extra raw ones in extra virgin olive oil, which have entered another of our rankings and the brand new grilled artichoke split. On the amatriciana sauce, released at the beginning of 2024, they are still working «to adjust the aim» explains Luciano Bonzani, sales director of the Salento company, frankly.
The lines for catering, freezing and grilling
The frost line for catering has just been launched on the market (turnip greens, chicory leaves and chicory leaves), in pole position is the grilled line, to be released next year. But the most successful are the chicory crudaiola, the shoots of a variety of Catalonia chicory typical of Galatina preserved in extra virgin olive oil, without the addition of spices and aromatic herbs, a wonderful combination of sweetness, amiable bitterness and vegetal aroma in a texture velvety, «a product born three years ago and currently the best-selling, especially in Lombardy, Veneto and abroad» Bonzani goes into detail.
I Contadini – Ugento (LE) – SP 290 km 1 Felline-Torre San Giovanni – tel. 0833555227
