Fiera dell'Asparago e dei Fiori

From April 10 to 12 in Arcole, the fair dedicated to the Arcole asparagus awaits you.

The asparagus and Arcole is a combination that has lasted for five centuries. The sandy soil of an area that remained marshy for millennia before being drained must have always been suited for the cultivation of this typical Arcole product. A vegetable that was eaten and considered a delicacy since the sixteenth century. It is in this century, in fact, that the cultivation of asparagus began in Arcole, as documented in a booklet discovered by the historian Ernesto Santi.

The discovery started from reading the historical archive of an article that appeared in L'Arena on May 19, 1935, which refers to the first asparagus exhibition held in Terrossa di Roncà in May 1935, at that time a town dedicated to asparagus cultivation. In the text of the article, an old booklet written by Adriano Valerini titled "The Beauties of Verona. A New Discourse in Which All Notable Things of the City are Briefly Discussed" is mentioned, which is now kept at the Civic Library of Verona, where typical products and Veronese delicacies prepared with the flavorful vegetable were praised.

In the pamphlet, which was found by Santi, it is stated among other things on page 66: “And to speak of foods, I seem to remember some things that are not granted by Heaven to all Cities and, even if they are, do not turn out as perfect. Who will deny that the Asparagus is not the best and the most beautiful of all others; these already in the villa of Arcole held the principal place, today in many other places they are very long and large.”

The sixteenth-century origin of asparagus production in Arcole seems undisputed from these few lines. But as can be inferred from the passage, already in the second half of the 16th century, other Veronese towns, in addition to Arcole, dedicated themselves to this cultivation with excellent results.

News taken from “The Delicacies of Asparagus Have Been Grown in the Town Since the Sixteenth Century” by Zeno Martini, in L’Arena on 11.07.2012 “The Asparagus of Arcole” by Enzo Gambin.