APULICA / FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND PULSES
Navelli chickpea
Slow Food Presidium · Fruit, vegetables and pulses · Abruzzo
In brief
- A small, smooth, cream-coloured chickpea grown at 700-800 m on the Navelli plain below the Gran Sasso; there is also a smaller rust-red type. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Cece di Navelli)
- It is sown in March-April on dry, stony ground; the floury red chickpeas suit soups. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Cece di Navelli)
- In late August the village holds a chickpea festival; chickpea and chestnut soup used to open the Christmas Eve dinner. (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Cece di Navelli)
History and origin
Navelli is a small village of medieval origin overlooking the plain that bears its name, at the foot of the Gran Sasso in the province of L'Aquila. In autumn the basin is known for the purple flowers of saffron, but for centuries another crop supported the economy and daily life of local families: the chickpea.
In farming tradition the two types had different roles. The white chickpea was the one taken to market, while the red one stayed at home for the family table. A local saying warns against sowing chickpeas in black earth, because on dark, fertile soil the plant grows lush but sets few seeds.
The Slow Food Presidium was set up to support the few growers left in Navelli and the neighbouring villages, in an area that has been losing inhabitants for decades, a trend made worse by the 2009 earthquake. The producers have formed an association and follow a shared production protocol.
Area and method of production
The fields lie between 700 and 800 metres above sea level, on dry, light and sometimes stony soils where water does not stand. Only the best-suited plots, well drained and sunny, are used, and yields are around 10 to 15 quintals per hectare.
Sowing takes place in spring, between March and April, a little later when the season demands it. The chickpea is rotated with wheat, barley, spelt and forage plants such as alfalfa and sainfoin, returning to the same field every three to six years.
The harvest runs from late July to late August. In small plots the almost dry plants are pulled up and tied into bundles, called mannelli, which are left to dry in the field; the pods are then shelled by hand. Only on larger holdings is a threshing machine used.
How to recognise it
The Navelli chickpea is recognised by its small size, cream colour and smooth surface. This is the most common type and the easiest to find.
Some growers also keep a second type, even smaller, rust-coloured and with a wrinkled surface. The red chickpea has a tougher skin, a floury texture and a stronger flavour, so it needs longer cooking.
Both come from the same plain and the same way of farming, on soils where water never stands and with long crop rotations, which are part of the product's character.
Yields are modest, around 10 to 15 quintals per hectare, because the chickpeas come only from the best-suited fields, dry and well exposed to the sun.
In the kitchen
In the village chickpeas are stewed or flavoured with saffron from the plain, a pairing that brings together the two signature products of this landscape.
The red chickpea, floury and full-flavoured, is the one for soups. Among the heartiest dishes of the Abruzzo tradition is chickpea and chestnut soup, which had a ritual role: it opened the Christmas Eve dinner.
The Presidium also aims to bring this legume back into local restaurant kitchens, as has already happened with the lentil of Santo Stefano di Sessanio, another Presidium in the same province.
At the late-August festival it is precisely these home recipes that take centre stage, cooked by residents and growers.
Where to taste it
The place to discover it is the Navelli plain in the province of L'Aquila, where the chickpea is grown in the village's territory and in neighbouring municipalities. It is a landscape of open fields at the foot of the Gran Sasso, coloured in autumn by the saffron flowers.
At the end of August Navelli holds a chickpea festival, when residents and growers compete in preparing local recipes, from stewed chickpeas to chickpeas with saffron.
Visitors to L'Aquila and its territory can combine the Navelli plain with Santo Stefano di Sessanio, the lentil village that the Presidium itself points to as a successful example of bringing a legume back into local cooking.
Protection
- Slow Food Presidium — cece-di-navelli (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Cece di Navelli)
When
- Harvest: July–August (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Cece di Navelli)
- Event: August (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Cece di Navelli)
- Summer