Our History
Frenda Farm
Farm Frenda based in Raffadali has been involved for many years in the production and marketing of typical Sicilian products such as pistachios and almonds. These are first-rate products that we offer in different formats.
Production takes place in the lands located in the Raffadali area, in the province of Agrigento, enjoying a temperate climate that favors its production, treated with specific processing to obtain both the shelled but also the pestos and creams excellent for any use in cooking.
Il Brand "Fastuca"
Fastuca is a project that was created with the aim of enhancing a territory and its products of excellence.
Pistachio di Raffadali DOP and Sicilian Almond are the main products grown and processed in
our territory.
Fastuca is also the name of the pistachio plant in Sicilian. It derives from fustuq, a term used by the Arabs
to refer to the plant. We wanted to reintroduce this name so as not to lose our roots with
our past, with those who introduced the plant to Sicily, with those who for centuries cultivated it and handed down
to us all the secrets and tricks to obtain a superior product.
The Pistacchio of Raffadali D.O.P.
Camilleri in one of his novels tells the story of a humble Raffadali family that manages to emerge
thanks to the skill of the head of the family in the cultivation (grafting and pruning of the plant) of pistachios. The
cultivation of pistachios to obtain a fruit as precious as it is delicious seen as a moment of
redemption of the farmer, depicts for us the essence of our project.
The pistachio of Raffadali PDO represents an element of characterization for the whole territory; the
manual harvesting, starting from the second decade of August, the delicate smallatura, the subsequent seasoning in the sun
characterize its strong link with the slow rhythms and respectful of nature, environment and traditions. The
products obtained from its processing, the creams, desserts, pesto , ice cream and the thousands of preparations that can be made with the
pistachio are the historical and cultural wealth that a centuries-old tradition has left us in
legacy.
Sicilian almonds
Sicilian agriculture has always had a close link with almond cultivation, proof
of this being that nothing was lost from the cultivation of this plant; from the seeds, which constituted the
most prized product, to the hard shell of the almond that was used as “biomass” for
heating, or to the outer husk, which was processed to obtain the “scebba” or “scibina,”
a soft soap forerunner of modern soap. All of this almost as if to testify to the
indissoluble bond between farmer and plant that was created over the years and that enabled
families to derive an annual income from it, with a view to a de facto circular economy that guaranteed
self-sufficiency and stability.
The reputation that the Sicilian Almond has acquired in confectionery, especially in the making
of some excellences such as the Easter lamb of Favara, the curly cookies of Palma di Montechiaro, or the
nougats of Caltanissetta, is supported by important research activities that have characterized the
organoleptic profile and the intrinsic properties of the product that inevitably have an impact
on its use in cooking.
The results analyzed show a superiority of the Sicilian Almond in the
sensory characteristics not found in foreign varieties; in the latter, in fact, improvement
genetic improvement has aimed mainly at increasing yield at the expense of quality.
