Freshness abounds in Emilia-Romagna
Go ahead — pick it
Fuji apples in the orchard
Taste it
In the orchard with Piercarlo Fantini and Antonio Zampiga (bottom left)
Believe it or not, I don’t think I’ve ever had an apple right off the tree before — it was absolutely delicious. Being in Italy on a fine autumn morning probably enhanced the experience, too. If I could eat apples like that everyday, my fruit intake would be greatly increased.
It was a different and interesting aspect of our blog trip to visit both an apple orchard and fruit processing facility. It gave me a look at the lives of the people and the industry of Emilia-Romagna beyond the usual traveler’s perspective. During my visits to the region, I’ve seen acres of olive groves, walked through vineyards, and even had a hand in harvesting grapes, but there is more to Italy’s agricultural production than olive oil and wine. Especially in the Emilia-Romagna region that has the soil and climate to produce many varieties of fruits and vegetables. There’s good reason that it’s known as one of the premier food producing and culinary regions of Italy.
Most of the apples we saw in this orchard, owned by Piercarlo Fantini and part of the Apofruit Italia cooperative, are Fuji and Pink Lady (one of Mr. TWS’s favorites) varieties.
Share it with the world
We also had a chance to walk through the processing facility in Cesena, one of the 12 production plants they have in Italy, seven of which are in Emilia-Romagna. Apofruit Italia processes Italian produce for distribution throughout the world. In the Cesena area, the main produce are peaches, apples, nectarines, apricots, strawberries and persimmons.
APOFruit Processing Plant
The plant was quite busy with workers moving along in forklifts and operating processing equipment, but my favorite scenes were those of the women who work on the rows of fruit in quality assurance, taking great care in their selections. It was interesting to note that many of the workers in the plant, doing manual or mechanical work, were women.
Looking delicious — apples and peaches (top left)
It’s apple time in Emilia-Romagna, so that’s what we mostly saw in the plant, but I did catch a crate of peaches that you can see top right above and the luscious nectarines below.
Nectarines
Have an apple
A visit to an apple orchard and then to the processing plant made me remember once again the advice all of us are given as children — eat your fruits and vegetables!
Fuji apples on the tree
For more information:
Apofruit Italia
Viale della Cooperazione, 400
47522 Pievesestina di Cesena (FC) – Italy
Tel. +39.0547.414111
Fax +39.0547.414166
E-mail: info@apofruit.it
Disclosure: This post was a part of Buonvivere Blog Tour, organized by Settimana del Buonvivere in collaboration with 21grammy.
How ironic, Cathy! I just ate some cantaloupe and came in to see your new post! I’ve never had fresh fruit right off the of the tree but that would be the best! I love Fuji apples too. That is soooo awesome that you were able to go into the plant and watch the production! 🙂
I love New York State apples but these look terrific!
Hi Cathy. For whatever reason, I have never associated apples or apple orchards with Italy. The apples do look delicious, and I love the light in that first photograph! When I was a university student I picked apples to make extra money during the semester!
I had never associated apple orchards with Italy either – I thought it was all olives and grapes! When we were kids we would pick apples from the tree all the time and there is definitely nothing like a fresh-picked apple. Very interesting to see how the processing plant works as well.
I love natural shots of fruit and can almost smell those apples straight off the trees. Just gorgeous. You had me hooked. We used to go ‘scrumping’ when we were children and hop over the neighbour’s wall for apples – invariably getting bitten on the ankles by their pack of Yorkshire terriers! It was all good sport. So the memories of their lovely aroma (the apples not the dogs!) come tainted with misadventure too 🙂 I found your post over at Foodie Tuesday, which I’ll link to in the future.
Oh this post just reminded me of how much I miss apple picking in Jersey during the fall. Every year we would go to pick a bushel or two or three, if you can believe it! FUN FUN FUN!!! And eating them right from tree is the only way to go!!!
One of our favorite things to do during Fall is apple picking (we have a few orchards in San Diego). Of course, being in Italy probably adds an extra layer of goodness. Fuji apples are my favorite. What a great experience to go to a fruit processing plant too. Love those apple shots. I never would have expected you to go apple picking in Italy though.
I’ve seen a lot of fruit trees in Italy but I don’t think I’d seen apple trees! And it’s a fruit I have never associated with Italy. Well, now I know. Your photos of the fruits look scrumptious.
Delicious 🙂
These apples really look delicious, Cathy. I agree with you that eating fresh fruits and foods will increase your intake. There’s a distinct difference in taste. Any similarities in taste to apples Stateside?
Thanks for linking up this week, Cathy. Hope you have a great weekend.
Joel was raised on an apple orchard so picking fruit from a tree for him is a ‘been there, done that’ (far too many times) response from him. On the otherhand, I was also raised in Washington’s fruit country but hadn’t picked fruit from a tree until a press trip last year. . . cherries have never tasted as good as those I picked that morning. I hear what you are saying.
I would love to one day pick my own apple off the tree and then take a great big bite. It must be so interesting to see the processing plant. It reminds me of those factory tours I used to watch on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.
Pingback: Buonvivere: Good Living in Cesena » Traveling with Sweeney