The Strawberries of Arenzano

Appears in
top 1000Recipes from Paradise: Life and Food on the Italian Riviera
Recipes from Paradise

By Fred Plotkin

Published 1997

  • About
The town of Arenzano, in the western part of the province of Genoa, is famous for its strawberries. They are small, delicate, and intensely fragrant, reminding me of Bardolino wine. Twenty kilos (44 pounds) of Arenzano strawberries were shipped to Japan in 1959 for the wedding of the crown prince and princess.

Each year since 1952 the town has held a strawberry festival to celebrate the harvest. A Strawberry King and Queen are selected, and they arrive at city hall in a golden carriage to initiate the festivities. The fame of these berries has far outstripped the local ability to meet the demand. There has always been a small amount of arable terrain, and as Arenzano became a desirable weekend place for people from Genoa, Turin, and Milan, many farmers sold their land. So most of the berries consumed at the strawberry festival actually come from the regions of Trentino and Veneto in northeastern Italy. But if you visit Arenzano on your own, particularly in June, you will be able to sample le fragole di Arenzano, and you will then know what a strawberry is supposed to taste like.