-
(Music)
-
On Italy's Amalfi Coast
-
there's a food found
nowhere else on Earth.
-
Caring for it requires fearlessness,
-
breathtaking agility,
-
and a deep connection to the land.
-
This is a young man's trade
-
but it's done almost entirely by old men,
-
and I've come here to meet
one of the greatest.
-
(Music)
-
Gigino just turned 83,
-
he's spent his whole life
tending a very special kind of lemon.
-
here on the hillsides of Amalfi.
-
Gigino and his son Salvatore
have invited me
-
to harvest the fable Amalfi Coast lemon,
-
a variety that is celebrated
for its sweetness and aroma.
-
But first, café!
-
(Nicole) Saluti!
-
With a twist of lemon, of course.
-
That's really good!
(Laughter)
-
(Nicole) I'm ready to go now. Let's go!
-
(Salvatore) Now you're ready.
-
(Music)
-
The name, sfusato, comes
from the lemon's taper end,
-
like a spindle or fuso, in Italian.
-
(In Italian) The original!
-
Only sfusato grown along the 20 miles
coastal strip between Vietri and Positano
-
can legally be sold
as Amalfi Coast lemons.
-
This is the preferred habitat
of the sfusato amalfitano,
-
and attempts to commercially grow it
outside of Italy have failed.
-
(Music)
-
Gigino often works in the most
precarious place possible --
-
atop the mountainside pergolas
that support the trees.
-
(Music)
-
This breathtaking aerial act has earned
Gigino and his cohorts a nickname:
-
the Flying Farmers.
-
(Music)
-
It's easy to drive along the coast
-
and think the cascading lemon terraces
are entirely ornamental,
-
they are just postcard perfect.
-
But that's what this coast does to people,
-
it gives us delusion of grandeur,
-
that all of this is here purely
to fulfill our fantasy of paradise.
-
But in reality,
the lemons play a vital role,
-
not only in the livelihood
of farmers like Gigino,
-
but in the very survival
of the Amalfi Coast,
-
literally, the survival.
-
The roots of these trees are anchoring
the soil to this sheer coastline.
-
Now, the farmers are aging,
-
and there's not exactly a line of people
clamoring to take up this work.
-
As more farms have been abandoned,
the mudslides have increased.
-
Gigino's farmland includes
an ancient terrace grove
-
that overlooks the heart
of Amalfi and the sea.
-
Up here feels worlds away
-
but it's staringly close
to the bustling streetlife below
-
where you can hear
children playing as Gigino works.
-
It's terrifying to think of
what would happen
-
if these terraces crumble.
-
It was only recently
that Gigino's eldest son Sal
-
quits his cushy accounting job
-
to become his father's apprentice.
-
He knew that if he didn't act now
-
then a legacy of over two centuries
and five generations would die with him.
-
He teaches me day by day and I'm learning.
-
It's difficult because
-
it's difficult to learn
80 years of experience.
-
Gigino tends two seasons
worth of lemons at the same time.
-
The ones he'll harvest this year
from February to September,
-
and the babies
that will be next year's crop.
-
Gigino's lemons are organic
-
not because he's trying to conform
to any modern day standard,
-
but rather the opposite,
-
because he's farming the way
his family has farmed for generations.
-
The spring is such
a special time to be here.
-
The trees are unclothed from the netting
-
that protects the fruit
against wind and hail.
-
The trees bloom perfuming the air
and luring bees to pollinate.
-
The Aceto keeps their own hives
and harvests the honey too.
-
The fertilized flowers grow into fruits
which start up as green as limes.
-
A third of Gigino's lemons
are used to make limoncello
-
in their own small factory.
-
The rest goes to ice cream
and other limoncello factories,
-
and a few to fresh markets.
-
- (Nicole) Can I try?
- (Gigino) Yes.
-
All right, these are real deal shears.
(Laughter)
-
Ok.
-
All right, we want leaves on these.
-
The branches and the leaves
also indicate that is really fresh,
-
that is coming straight from the farm.
-
(Nicole) I've got this one.
-
(Gigino speaking Italian)
-
(Nicole) It's not for me -- he'll do it.
-
I can get this one, though --
it's heavy enough.
-
(Music)
-
- Saluti!
- Saluti!
-
I've seen a lot of tough farm work
-
but I really can't think of
a more challenging terrain than this.
-
Heavy loads have to be hauled
up and down narrow craggy steps
-
from terrace
-
to terrace
-
to terrace.
-
But Gigino also claims a unique advantage.
-
He's got one of the most technologically
advanced poling systems on the coast.
-
I'm serious --
-
this little cable car.
-
Cable car aside,
-
watching Gigino farm is
stepping back in time 200 years.
-
He crafts each pergola himself
from the chestnut trees in his forests
-
and then, he uses pliable willow branches
-
to tie the pergola
to the limbs of the lemon trees
-
to lift them up to the sun
which sweetens the fruit.
-
Preparing the willow ties
is an ancient practice.
-
Watching him do this fills me
with a deep sense of privilege.
-
It's like, I'm seeing
a tradition so fragile
-
that if I blink, it may cease to exist.
-
It's Sunday
-
and three generations of Aceto
are gathered under the pergolas for lunch.
-
There's pasta, sausages
and flank steak and of course,
-
lemon cake.
-
You know, in its heyday Amalfi was
an incredible, powerful maritime republic,
-
and a gateway to the continent
for Arab traders.
-
They are the ones who first
brought citrus to this coast
-
in the 10th century.
-
Ever since, wealthy visitors
from near and far,
-
have volleyed
for the keys to this kingdom.
-
Most of the aristocrats that
lorded over this land are long gone,
-
but the local people they hired
to care for these orchards,
-
their lineage remains and for now,
-
for as long as the roots of their trees
can hold this place together,
-
this land belongs to them.
-
(Music)
-
My time with the Aceto is over,
but our adventure is just getting started.
-
I'm heading to nearby Naples to discover
how lemons have inspired Italian cooking.
-
Join me to learn from this dashing lad --
-
- Ciao!
- (Laughter)
-
a delicious lemony pasta that's so easy,
-
you can master it at home.
-
So, stay tune for Part 2
of our Southern Italy special.