The Queen of Italian Apples!
The Queen of Apples - Mela Annurca is indigenous to Campania and plentiful in the area around Caserta.
It is an ancient variety of apple and can be seen in some Pompeiian frescoes at the Casa dei Cervi in Herculaneum.
La Mela Annurca is slightly flattened and red streaked with white colored pulp which is dense, crunchy, acidy-sweet and fragrant. The apple is also special because of the specific techniques employed to produce it. The green apples are first left on the ground in the apple field to redden. The characteristic final red color is the result of exposure to the sun's rays after the apples are spread on specially prepared ground and periodically rotated by hand over 20-50 days. In ancient times the apples were arranged on "cannutoli", layers of hemp but today they are laid upon pine needles or wood shavings.
There is a Sagra della Mela Annurca in Valle di Maddaloni (CE) every October.
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