Sicily, with its climate and landscape alternating between mountains and valleys, is the ideal terrain for growing sweet and flavorful fruits, from citrus to prickly pears, from cherries to peaches.
The latter can boast some varieties unique to the entire country, which have earned quality certifications and rightfully belong in the long list of food and wine excellences.
We have already extensively discussed the Leonforte IGP peach, known for being wrapped in parchment paper while still a small pit.
This time we move about 50 miles as the crow flies from Leonforte, landing on the Sicani Mountains, near the impressive Mount Cammarata.
Specifically, we find ourselves in Bivona, known as the “City of Peaches.”
This title – along with being the first duchy of the Kingdom of Sicily – is due to a native excellence, the Bivona peach, also called “montagnola” (mountain peach) because it grows among the steep Sicani Mountains.
It’s a fruit with yellow skin featuring small red stripes and white, sweet, and delicate flesh, which received the IGP certification in 2014.
The Peach Tree
The Bivona peach is a particular variety (actually four different ecotypes are cultivated) of the Prunus persica.
Belonging to the Rosaceae family – which includes flowers like roses and hawthorn but also fruit trees like apple, almond, and medlar – it’s a tree that can grow up to 26 feet tall.
It has elongated leaves, and in spring, the foliage becomes a unique green canvas on which nature paints delicate pink flowers. These flowers show different shades toward their inner petals, which indicate the future color of the fruit’s flesh: if pink gives way to white, the peaches will have white flesh; if orange takes over, the fruits will have yellow flesh.
Speaking of fruits, in the case of Prunus Persica, they are scientifically called drupes, fruits that have a single, large seed (also called pit) inside: apricots, cherries, plums, and even olives are drupes.
If this pit firmly adheres to the flesh, they’re called clingstone peaches; if it’s visibly detached, they’re called freestone peaches.
Not only the fruits but also the leaves of the peach tree are used.
The leaves, like the bark and seeds, contain cyanides, which in minimal quantities aren’t lethal but are used to flavor liqueurs, giving them a bitter taste.
From China to Persia
The origin of the peach tree is lost in myth.
In particular, a Far Eastern folk tale tells of a fisherman who found a pit inside a large fish and decided to plant it: after a few days, a majestic tree grew, bearing sweet and delicate fruits that took the name of peaches.
This mythical origin is also due to the long history of the peach tree, present on Earth well before human appearance.
This is evidenced by findings of two-million-year-old peach pits in China.
From there, the peach tree reached Persia, where it took the name “persico,” still used today in many southern languages, including Sicilian.
This sweet fruit reached Roman tables in the last century of the Republic, but Mediterranean populations already knew its delicacy thanks to Alexander the Great.
As the Roman historian Rutilius Taurus Aemilianus Palladius tells, the Macedonian conqueror fell in love with the peach after tasting it in Darius III’s garden in Persia and decided to transplant it to Europe.
History of the Bivona IGP Peach
Over the centuries, peaches continued to be cultivated worldwide, and Italy can boast second place in global production, thanks to an extensive list of varieties and ecotypes, including the Bivona IGP peach.
Actually, Bivona’s cultivation isn’t historical; it’s just seventy years old.
In the 1950s, the first trees were planted in the San Matteo area, just outside Bivona.
From there, the success of the Bivona peach would be unstoppable, reaching over 2,500 acres of cultivation not only in Bivona but also in surrounding towns: Palazzo Adriano (in Palermo province), San Biagio Platani, Alessandria della Rocca, and Santo Stefano Quisquina.
Reasons for Success
This sudden success of the Bivona peach is certainly due to the Sicani Mountains’ terrain.
Inhabited in ancient times by the population they’re named after, these mountains have calcareous soil, which gives way to more clayey soil in the lower valleys.
This combines with the unique climate of the Sicani Mountains, which, due to their altitude, are often wrapped in fog and high precipitation.
However, a great boost to montagnola production came from human intervention, which, through the construction of the Castello dam near Bivona, interrupts the Magazzolo river’s course to supply the territory with vital oxygen for orchards.
Harvesting the Bivona IGP Peach
The varieties cultivated in Bivona (and throughout the area) are the murtiḍḍara (or early variety), the agostina, the bianca (white), and the settembrina (September variety), which differ in their ripening period: this extends from June (for murtiḍḍara) until late October (for settembrina).
Therefore, based on the various ripening stages of the 4 varieties, expert farmers proceed with harvesting the fruit, which must be done manually, gently twisting the peach from its stem.
Subsequently, the fruit is cooled and stored in refrigerated cells until commercialization, where the montagnola is recognizable by its Protected Geographical Indication mark, obtained in 2014 to protect the uniqueness and delicacy of the Bivona peach from imitations.
Flavor and Uses of the Bivona IGP Peach
What arrives on our tables is a fruit with yellow skin (very light, almost white) that tends toward green, featuring delicate red stripes, which in the case of the settembrina variety reduce to a subtle veining.
The flesh is white and firm, but its flavor is sweet and delicate.
For this reason, the Bivona IGP peach is perfect to eat on its own, also thanks to its freshness.
It’s also an ideal protagonist for fruit salads, ice creams, and jams, thanks to its low acidity.
To honor this excellence, the town of Bivona organizes the “Pescabivona Festival” every summer, where the fruit, the main actor in various forms, is accompanied on stage by music and folklore.
Fun Facts
The peach tree first appeared in China, today’s main fruit exporter. In China, the tree is a symbol of immortality.
In Ancient Egypt, it was associated with the god Harpocrates, deity of silence and childhood.
Even today, babies’ and children’s cheeks are compared to peaches due to their color and especially their softness.
Peaches have always been widely used, even in times of famine and drought: to compensate for the lack of dried fruit, the idea of canned peaches in syrup was born in the 20th century.
