The Aglio Rosso di Nubia (''Nubia Red Garlic''), also known as Aglio di Paceco (''Paceco Garlic'') and Aglio di Trapani (''Trapani Garlic''), is a Sicilian variety of

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

, characterized by the intense purple color of the robes of its bulbils. It is mainly cultivated in Nubia, a fraction of the

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

Paceco Paceco ( Sicilian: ''Paceca'') is a town and ''comune'' in Western Sicily, Italy, administratively part of the province of Trapani, located nearby the Trapani city area, a distance of . Paceco is a small rural centre: among its agricultural pr ...

, in the Province of Trapani. In less extent, it is also cultivated in the neighboring municipalities of

Trapani Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality (''comune'') on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an impor ...

Erice Erice (; scn, Èrici) is a historic town and ''comune'' in the province of Trapani, Sicily, in southern Italy. Geography The main town of Erice is located on top of Mount Erice, at around above sea level, overlooking the city of Trapani, the ...

, Buseto Palizzolo,

Valderice Valderice ( Sicilian: ''Valdèrici'') is a town and ''comune'' in North-Western Sicily, Italy, administratively part of the province of Trapani. The city is located in the inland, close to the provincial capital city of Trapani, but includes als ...

Marsala Marsala (, local ; la, Lilybaeum) is an Italian town located in the Province of Trapani in the westernmost part of Sicily. Marsala is the most populated town in its province and the fifth in Sicily. The town is famous for the docking of Gius ...

and Salemi.Serena Milano, Raffaella Ponzio, Piero Sardo. ''L'Italia dei Presìdi''. Slow Food Editore, 2002. pp. 374-375. The cultivation takes place on dark, dry and loamy soils, in rotation with Paceco yellow melon (a local variety of melon also known as ''cartucciaro''), vicia faba and

durum Durum wheat (), also called pasta wheat or macaroni wheat (''Triticum durum'' or ''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''durum''), is a tetraploid species of wheat. It is the second most cultivated species of wheat after common wheat, although it represen ...

, in order to avoid the over-exploitation and the subsequent impoverishment of the soils. The sowing takes place between December and January, while the harvest takes place in the months of May and June in the evening and at night, because the increased moisture of the leaves facilitates the braiding of the bulbs. For the same purpose, before harvest the inflorescence of the plant ( in local dialect) is removed. It has a

bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

consisting of an average of twelve cloves, with the outer tunics of white colour and the bulbil tunics of a bright red colour. Analysis carried out by the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Palermo showed that the Nubia red garlic has a content of

allicin Allicin is an organosulfur compound obtained from garlic, a species in the family Alliaceae. It was first isolated and studied in the laboratory by Chester J. Cavallito and John Hays Bailey in 1944. When fresh garlic is chopped or crushed, the ...

well above average. This gives it a particularly intense flavor. It is listed as a

traditional Italian food product ''Prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale'' (PAT) is an official approval for traditional Italian regional food products similar to the Protected Geographical Status of the European Union. A list of approved products is published by the Ministry of ...

(P.A.T.) by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies. Mipaaf
List of traditional food products

References

{{reflist Garlic Province of Trapani Cuisine of Sicily