Cascia (PG) - The event brings in the square, November 1 to 3, 2013, dozens of food booths and displays together to find the taste of pure saffron of Cascia, went almost lost after an ancient tradition.
Saffron was widespread among ancient peoples. This spice with a unique and intoxicating had different meanings symbolized unhappy love in memory of the myth of the young Crocos love with the nymph Smilax evoked symbols and opposites.
Its use was varied: it was used to color clothes, to prepare ointments and perfumes, to dye the bandages of Egyptian mummies.
The use of saffron in cooking goes back to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, when it began to be used to color and flavor to foods. In fact, it gives the food a very intense aroma and taste, as well as the distinctive yellow ocher.
Saffron production in Umbria is evidenced from the thirteenth century. Castel della Pieve (Città della Pieve) was considered the most important area of ​​production, while the Nera Valley began to be mentioned in historical sources from the fifteenth century. In the sixteenth century Cascia established itself as one of the most active in the trade of this spice, used primarily for use in dyeing and then for the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries.
In the seventeenth century we witness the gradual abandonment of the crop and only a few years ago it was possible to register a renewed interest in its cultivation.
