Carpino Fava bean is a native cultivar, sown only in our territory and is characterised by the dimple located in the lower part. Since the past it has been considered the “meat of the poor” since it is very rich in proteins and mineral salts; moreover, it is a legume that contains L-dopa, the precursor of dopamine used in patients with Parkinson’s disease.
Until the ‘60s/’70s they were sown in the Piana di Carpino, the countryside near the town, and were alternated with wheat since the fava bean enriches the soil with nitrogen. Back then, “buyers” from Bari area would come and purchase them in bulk at low prices until the farmers evaluated that economically it wasn’t productive to do so much work and then they created olive groves in those lands. In my family, however, thanks to my father Carlo who cultivated it for family use, this legume continued to be produced, thus preventing it from going completely extinct.
In 2002, the Carpino Fava bean became SLOW FOOD PRESIDIUM (projects for small endangered productions worthy of protection) and so the cultivation of the seed was resumed. At first the cultivation was poor, but today, being better known and the demands increased nationwide, the area of cultivation has increased.
In January 2014, the Slow Food Presidium Office asked me for some samples, which I promptly sent without asking for an explanation. A few months later, a company called ARGOTEC ordered me a certain quantity of Carpino fava beans. At the end of October, I went to exhibit at the Salone del Gusto in Torino and went to attend a conference where I found out what had happened: Slow Food had asked for samples of all the Italian Slow Food Presidium legumes and, after testing, analysing and comparing them, had chosen four legumes (Carpino Fava Bean, Black Chickpea from Murgia Carsica, Ustica lentil, Piattella Canavesana) as the main ingredients for a soup that would be eaten by the astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti in the Orbital Space Station.
In 2015, I was selected by Bari CNR (National Research Council) for a project called “SavegraInPuglia” aimed at the in-situ conservation of grasses following which I was awarded a certificate of Farmer Custodian of the Local Varieties of Puglia.