The Museum is situated in the old town centre of Altino (CH), from where one can admire the vast and variegated landscapes which are dominated by the Maiella massif and the sundrenched hills of the Valle del Sangro. Along this valley our people, starting in the middle of the 18th century, began to develop the land for vegetable gardens and orchards, thus generating new types of landscapes and a new wealth in cultivated varieties. One particular example of the latter is the Peperone dolce di Altino (the sweet pepper of Altino). It is precisely in this part of Abruzzo that the first cultivation of this vegetable was documented in 1748. The Museum is the only one of its kind in Italy both for the subjects it deals with and the multimedia elements it offers. Its informative and explanatory panels and old artefacts are carefully chosen and contextualized to describe the work and cookery of old; its audio points are for listening to sayings and proverbs of the peasants world, the sounds of old fairs and markets, the riddles, or simply the tales of the market gardeners. Video projections follow the phases of cultivation and the transformation of the sweet pepper or the moments of socializing connected to the Festival del Peperone Dolce di Altino –which now for many years in the month of August promotes the use of the sweet pepper in cooking-.Touch screens make it possible to discover not only historic, traditional or new chef’s recipes, but also their procedures and secrets thanks to videos.
The ample documentation, backed up by objects, images and voices, not only has scientific and didactic value for transferring knowledge to school students of all levels, but can also be useful for enthusiasts of the subject, for new generations of farmers, cooks, artisans and entrepreneurs who intend to rediscover and promote local products, as well as reinforcing the territory’s cultural identity. Indeed the museum features various subjects such as the influence that the introduction of the new American products had in the radical transformation of the landscape; the changes in dietary and cultural traditions; and the new identities taken on over time.