Sberge and merendelle. The scent of summer in Southern Italy

In some areas of Southern Italy, the scent of summer is marked not only by prickly pears, rosemary and sea breeze, but also by the sweet fragrance of merendelle.

The merendella (plural: merendelle) is a variety of small nectarine, slightly larger than a plum. It has a white or greenish colour, occasionally with red streaks. Its flesh is sweet, crispy, and fragrant.

Sicilians from the Niceto valley consider it an endemic production of their region and call it “sbergia”, a name used in some areas of Calabria as well, where the merendella is regarded as a fruit that only grows in the province of Catanzaro. We know for sure it does not find its ideal micro-climate everywhere.

If in Italy it is rare to taste merendelle outside of its production areas, we can find similar fruits in California: Honeydew Nectarines. While at the end of 1700, English farmers grew the Peterborough Nectarine, a white-greenish skinned nectarine with a delicate fragrance and a sweet taste. Peterborough Nectarine is slightly bigger than a merendella. Still, both derive from a fruit introduced by the Arabs who settled on the slopes of Etna around the year 1000. Maybe, in the end, Sicilians are are right.