Valleggia is a small, aromatic Ligurian apricot with orange skin dotted brick red.
Valleggia takes its name from a hamlet of Quiliano, behind the Savona coast.
Small fruit and tall trees give this orchard tradition its particular scale. Slow Food’s Presidium supports the remaining plantings and their recovery, with growers picking and selecting the apricots by hand.
The Presidium describes trees that can become tall, making harvesting a patient job. Fruit is picked by hand and selected carefully; its small size is part of its identity.
Quiliano’s municipal guide places the orchards along the coast and the hills behind it, up to about 300 meters above sea level.
LiguriaTaste a ripe Valleggia on its own, then try slices with plain yogurt to keep its aroma in the foreground.
Fresh Valleggia is a late-June to mid-July fruit in Quiliano’s guide. Look for its small size, thin orange skin and brick-red speckles; ask for Valleggia by name.
From the hamlet of Valleggia in the municipality of Quiliano.
No. Its small size and speckled orange skin are characteristic.
Slow Food identifies jam as a year-round form.
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