Poppies and paparina

Dario Melissano 3 May 2022

In our fields, in April, among the first poppies to open, we also encounter the spadarella or field gladiolus, whose scientific name is gladiolus italici. The gladiolus takes its name from gladium , which means small sword in Latin, referring to the leaves that resemble its shape.

The genus gladiolus is from the iridaceae family. While the red poppy, whose proper name is papaver rhoeas, is from the papaveraceae family papaveraceae. In the language of flowers, the red poppy represents oblivion. This flower became the symbol of the First World War and of all those who died in the war.
John McCrae dedicated a poem entitled “In the Fields of Flanders” to the death of a friend who had fallen in the war. Theincipit is this: “in the fields of Flanders poppies bloom between the rows of crosses that mark our place”.

Thus the poppy has become the symbol of Remember Day also known as Poppy Day, the symbol of all those who died in war. In Italy it is mentioned in “Bella ciao” as the flower of the partisan. While Fabrizio De André in “Canzone di Piero” remembers the soldier who dies among “a thousand red poppies”.

It is said that the leader Genghis Khan had poppy seeds scattered on the battlefields to honour those who had died there.

The poppy plant, called rosolato, is for the Salento people the paparina. This plant is harvested when it is tender, before it flowers. It is cleaned well and washed thoroughly to eliminate any traces of soil. It is then bruised by placing it directly in a pot on the stove, where it shrinks. The oil is evaporated with garlic and chili pepper in another pot and once drained, the paparina is added, with some black olives and salt to taste, continuing to cook it, browning it well.

Ricetta: Paparine ‘nfucate

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