Harvesting bigarades from A to Z!

For decades, Monaco has been constantly evolving while preserving the elements that make up its DNA. One of these is the harvesting of bitter oranges!

Historically an agricultural land, the country abounded in citrus fruits, which served as a currency of exchange for the population. The local population used to barter their precious foodstuffs for rum with passing merchant ships.

Since then, Monaco has grown, and the citrus trees are still there, bearing witness to the country's centuries-old history. Today, more than 1,000 citrus trees bloom in the streets of the Principality. Every year, in January and February, gardeners from the Department of Urban Development prune the various fruit trees and pick the bigarades (bitter oranges) that grow on the trees lining the various thoroughfares in the Condamine, Moneghetti and Monte-Carlo districts.

For example, the harvest on rue Grimaldi requires ten people to work for a week, harvesting around 1,500 kg. As in previous years, anyone wishing to use bigarades to make marmalade should contact the local gardeners.

However, the vast majority of the fruit is passed on to Monegasque growers. While the Lycée Rainier III is one of the lucky ones, processing the fruit to make jam and fruit paste, it is La Distillerie de Monaco that receives the lion's share. Using traditional methods and selecting only the finest local raw materials, the country's only distillery produces exclusive liqueurs, spirits and eaux de vie.

The company, which was founded several years ago by Philip Culazzo, makes intelligent use of the fruit where it was previously wasted: "Instead of seeing the periwinkles sent to the rubbish tip, these untreated fruits are recovered to make good liqueurs". The Distillerie-Aménagement Urbain collaboration was more than beneficial, as the proportion of wasted products fell from 90% to ... 0%.

In their premises housing the still used for distillation, Philip Culazzo and his teams receive the bigarades - an average of 500 kg a day - and begin the transformation process, from maceration to bottling and marketing. It's 100% made-in-Monaco know-how and production, at the heart of a growing eco-responsible approach.

It's a short circuit that avoids waste and is much appreciated by the local population. As a result, the Distillerie de Monaco is looking to expand and plans to build a new facility in the Fontvieille district that will triple its production capacity to 600,000 bottles a year.

For those of you who would like to pick up a few bitter oranges, here is the collection schedule planned by the Direction de l'Aménagement Urbain over the next few weeks: - Condamine sector: rue Princesse Caroline from 29 January to 10 February - Monte-Carlo sector: boulevard d'Italie from 29 January to 2 February