The Diamante citron (''Citrus medica'' var. ''vulgaris'' or cv. ''diamante'' − it, cedro di diamante, he, אתרוג קלבריה or גינובה) is a variety of
citron
The citron (''Citrus medica''), historically cedrate, is a large fragrant citrus fruit with a thick rind. It is said to resemble a 'huge, rough lemon'. It is one of the original citrus fruits from which all other citrus types developed throu ...
named after the town of
Diamante
A diamanté (also spelled diamante) is a glittering ornament, such as an artificial jewel (e.g. a rhinestone) or a sequin.
Diamante may also refer to:
Places
Argentina
* Diamante, Entre Ríos, a ''municipio'' in Diamante Department
* Diamante ...
, located in the
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Cosenza,
Calabria, on the south-western coast of
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, which is its most known cultivation point. This is why this variety is sometimes called the "Calabria
Esrog". "''Esrog''" is the
Ashkenazi Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
name for citron.
History
The Diamante citron was one of the most important varieties
candied
Candied fruit, also known as glacé fruit, is whole fruit, smaller pieces of fruit, or pieces of peel, placed in heated sugar syrup, which absorbs the moisture from within the fruit and eventually preserves it. Depending on the size and type o ...
by the largest factories at
Livorno, Italy; it was gathered from
Liguria
it, Ligure
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,
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
,
Calabria &
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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and then shipped to
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
Association with Genoa
Many
religious Jews call it ''Yanover Esrog'' (Genoa citron), because of a long association of the fruit with the trading port of
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
in northern Italy, that exported it to other countries.
Genoa was known to supply citron for the Jews since the times of the
Tosafists
Tosafists were rabbis of France and Germany, who lived from the 12th to the mid-15th centuries, in the period of Rishonim. The Tosafists composed critical and explanatory glosses (questions, notes, interpretations, rulings and sources) on the Ta ...
, along with surrounding municipalities
Sanremo
Sanremo (; lij, Sanrémmo(ro) or , ) or San Remo is a city and comune on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination on the Italian Rivie ...
,
Bordighera
Bordighera (; lij, A Bordighea, locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Imperia, Liguria (Italy).
Geography
Bordighera is located from the land border between Italy and France, and it is possible to see the French coast with a nak ...
, and the rest of
Liguria
it, Ligure
, population_note =
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, demographics1_title1 =
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. The city is located in the region of
Liguria
it, Ligure
, population_note =
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, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
, which itself has a long history of citron cultivation, thanks to the massive mountain chain (
Apennines) which protects it from turbulent winds.
Genoa has also a known history of
banking
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Becau ...
, and they may have also traded the citron grown in the rest of the country, including from
Corsica and
Calabria, being a well established
seaport
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...
as well. Therefore, the Calabrian citron is also considered to be of oldest
Ashkenazic
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
tradition for the Jewish
ritual
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized ...
during the
Feast of Tabernacles
or ("Booths, Tabernacles")
, observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans
, type = Jewish, Samaritan
, begins = 15th day of Tishrei
, ends = 21st day of Tishre ...
.
Most adherent to the diamante variety of Calabria are
Chabad
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic grou ...
Hasidim, whose late Rebbes were always in support of this traditional variety, even claiming by virtue of a legend that
Moses himself obtained his esrog from this location. Among the other
Hasidic sects, it is most used by the
Satmars.
Kashrus supervision
The citron in Calabria was celebrated by poets like
Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
and
D'Annunzio, but is only saved from extinction thanks to the
Jewish tradition
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites"" ...
.
Because Calabria is at the southern point of Italy, and its
climate
Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...
most
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
, it is the most suitable for the citron. Despite the milder climate, during the winter it is still too cold for the citron; this is why the farmers need to protect them with blue or green plastic covers. Most of the citron trees in the area are
grafted onto foreign
citrus rootstock, in order to save them from frost and disease. This practice renders their fruits non-
kosher for the Sukkot ritual, and therefore in order for
mashgichim
A mashgiach ( he, משגיח, "supervisor"; , ''mashgichim'') or mashgicha (pl. ''mashgichot'') is a Jew who supervises the kashrut status of a kosher establishment. Mashgichim may supervise any type of food service establishment, including sl ...
to certify a citron as kosher, they must first carefully inspect the tree to confirm it was not grafted.
A Jewish delegation comes from Israel to
Santa Maria del Cedro
Santa Maria del Cedro is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, Italy. The town's name indicates the cultivation of the special diamante citron, which is used as Etrog by the Jews during their Feast of Tabernacles.
Sights in ...
every year between July and August to choose the best fruit to be used in the holiday for the Jewish community. The selection of the best fruit is a virtual ritual. The
mashgichim
A mashgiach ( he, משגיח, "supervisor"; , ''mashgichim'') or mashgicha (pl. ''mashgichot'') is a Jew who supervises the kashrut status of a kosher establishment. Mashgichim may supervise any type of food service establishment, including sl ...
, each followed by a worker carrying a box and a pair of scissors, go to the citron farms at five in the morning. The mashgiach or machgicha proceeds slowly looking left and right. Then they stop and look at the base of the tree, right where the
trunk comes up from the ground. A smooth trunk means the tree has not been grafted and the fruit can be picked. The mashgiach or mashgicha lies down on the ground to better examine the lower branches between the leaves.
Once a suitable fruit is found, the mashgiach or mashgicha shows it to the worker who cuts it off leaving a piece of the
stalk. Then the mashgiach or mashgicha analyses the picked citron one more time and if they decide it is worthy they wrap it in
oakum
Oakum is a preparation of tarred fibre used to seal gaps. Its main traditional applications were in shipbuilding, for caulking or packing the joints of timbers in wooden vessels and the deck planking of iron and steel ships; in plumbing, for ...
and puts it in the box. The farmer receives the agreed sum for each picked fruit. Then the boxes are sealed and sent to the
Lamezia Terme International Airport, their final destination Tel Aviv.
Although ''diamante'' is also grown in
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
,
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
and
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
, their citrons are not used for the Jewish ritual, since no
kashrut certification was present at transplantation. Seeds and cuttings of inspected trees were planted in the Israeli village of
Kfar Chabad
Kfar Chabad ( he, כְּפַר חַבָּ"ד, ''lit.'' "Chabad Village") is a Chabad-Lubavitch village in central Israel. Between Beit Dagan and Lod, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sdot Dan Regional Council. In it had a population of .
His ...
, with the
hechsher
A hechsher (; he, הֶכְשֵׁר "prior approval"; plural: ''hechsherim'') is a rabbinical product certification, qualifying items (usually foods) that conform to the requirements of halakha.
Forms
A hechsher may be a printed and signed certi ...
certification by major kashrut organizations.
The methods for tree checking to verify if the tree is grafted or not were established by a board of
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
s in Israel by 1877 as described in
Kuntres Pri Etz HadarKuntres Pri Etz Hadar
/ref> which was published in Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
a year after.
Other citron varieties
*Citron of Calabria
*Different Citron
The citron (''Citrus medica''), historically cedrate, is a large fragrant citrus fruit with a thick rind. It is said to resemble a 'huge, rough lemon'. It is one of the original citrus fruits from which all other citrus types developed throu ...
varieties used as Etrog
Etrog ( he, אֶתְרוֹג, plural: '; Ashkenazi Hebrew: ', plural: ') is the yellow citron or ''Citrus medica'' used by Jews during the week-long holiday of Sukkot as one of the four species. Together with the ''lulav'', ''hadass'', and '' a ...
, are the Greek Citron
The Greek citron variety of '' Citrus medica'' ( el, κιτριά, he, אתרוג קורפו or יְוָנִי) was botanically classified by Adolf Engler as the ''"variety etrog"''. This is remarking on its major use for the Jewish ritual e ...
, the Balady Citron, Moroccan Citron and Yemenite Citron
* Citron
The citron (''Citrus medica''), historically cedrate, is a large fragrant citrus fruit with a thick rind. It is said to resemble a 'huge, rough lemon'. It is one of the original citrus fruits from which all other citrus types developed throu ...
varieties, or hybrids not used for the ritual
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized ...
, are the Fingered Citron and Florentine Citron
The Florentine citron – citron hybrid of Florence ( it, cedrato di Firenze) – is a very fragrant citrus fruit, which is named after its most known origin of cultivation. Its scientific name is ''Citrus × limonimedica'' 'Florentina' Lush. ...
See also
*History of the Jews in Calabria
The history of the Jews in Calabria reaches back over two millennia. Calabria ( he, קלבריה) is at the very south of the Italian peninsula, to which it is connected by the Monte Pollino massif, while on the east, south and west it is surroun ...
References
Footnotes
Notations
* Isaac, Erich. (1959). Influence of religion on the spread of citrus: The religious practices of the Jews helped effect the introduction of citrus to Mediterranean lands. Science, 129: 179-186.
Article by Rabbi Tzinner about Yanove Etrog
* Etrog in Hebrew Wikipedia
External links
*HaLevanon 11 �
no 7
HaLevanon 12 �
gives a detailed list of cultivation areas and shipping system of ritual citron in Italy.
A rabbi inspects trees for grafting signs
The wanderings of plants and animals from their first home; By Victor Hehn, James Steven Stallybrass, digitized by Internet Archive
The Citron that the Chabad Rabbeim used
ChabadPedia about Calabria citron
by The Purdue University
by the University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...
Citrus Pages with pictures
Chabad Website
The Mesoreh about the Calabrian Etrog
Center for the Study of Jewry in Calabria and Sicily
A study on glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase isozymes of citron cultivars
A DNA Comparison study
Zitrus Freunde
{{Citrus
Cuisine of Calabria
Citron
Citrus
Jewish Italian history
Judaism in Italy