Custoza, the Risorgimento of Broccolo.

Do you remember the Tamburino Sardo? The sad story narrated in the book Cuore by Edmondo De Amicis about the heroic fourteen-year-old who saved his captain from the Austrian attack? De Amicis recalls him running down from the top of the hill across cultivated fields and wheat, through the dust raised by the bullets of the Austrian bayonets. In Custoza, the house of the Tamburino Sardo still stands to remember that act of courage.

Custoza is always remembered for the events of May 1848 and for the bloody battle of Staffalo. Today, among those sweet hills on the shores of Lake Garda, beautiful vineyards of white grapes, typical of this area, extend for the production of a historic Veronese DOC.

But on the hill of the Tamburino Sardo, the famous Broccoletti di Custoza are also cultivated: a vegetable that first appeared in these lands back in the 1600s, as told by some writings of botanical literature. A vegetable that, among these hills, still today, thanks to 9 uncompromising producers in love with their land, is receiving more and more interest from the public and restaurant operators.

The harvest of the Broccoletto di Custoza always takes place in the period from late November to late February. The small central hearts are particularly sweet during the periods when the ground freezes, and this year has been a favorable year precisely because it has been long and cold, with average morning temperatures always below zero. This small fruit of the earth is always eaten together with the leaves, which are very rich in vitamins and minerals. Their peculiarity is that they grow in soils rich in “terra crea,” a particular clay produced by the fusion of limestone and marl, with glacial deposits due to the large moraine that melted and then formed Lake Garda.

The local farmers recount that until twenty years ago, the broccoletti were eaten locally and sold to homes in the neighboring towns of Sommacampagna and Villafranca di Verona. Today, however, they are even limited, and there is a competition to have some. We at Spaghetti&Mandolino are fortunate to offer them exclusively as an online sale.

Some recipes? The most typical one, that of the local families, calls for the Broccoletto di Custoza stewed with soppressa and hard-boiled eggs, all drizzled with good Extravergine Olive Oil from Garda DOP. A poor dish, rich in flavor, that can be enhanced by a good glass of Custoza DOC for a substantial local pairing that has no rivals.

The Broccoletto di Custoza is now also reaching the creative kitchens of great author chefs. In short, it is worth trying this winter delicacy. And for those who want to savor the scent of Broccoletto directly in Custoza, you are all invited to the three-day event in the square dedicated to the vegetable from February 3 to 5.

Bernardo Pasquali