APULICA / FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND PULSES
Cipollotto Nocerino (spring onion)
PDO · Fruit, vegetables and pulses · Campania
In brief
- It is a fresh onion picked before the plant completes its cycle, with a white bulb and deep green leaves. (Qualigeo — Cipollotto Nocerino DOP)
- It is grown in the Sarno valley, between the Agro Nocerino Sarnese near Salerno and the Pompeii-Stabia area in the province of Naples. (Qualigeo — Cipollotto Nocerino DOP)
- It is harvested every month of the year, somewhat less in summer, on volcanic soils. (Qualigeo — Cipollotto Nocerino DOP)
- An onion already appears in a painting of the Sarno lararium in Pompeii. (Qualigeo — Cipollotto Nocerino DOP)
History and origin
Onions have been grown in the Sarno valley for more than two thousand years. In ancient Pompeii they appear in the paintings of the Lararium of the Sarno, the shrine where the Lares, the household gods, were kept: the river Sarno, shown in human form, watches over the growing and trading of the spring onions, which a boat carries along its waters to the city. The onions in the painting are small and white, very like today's.
In the Middle Ages the area's onions reached market together with oranges, lemons and chestnuts from nearby districts, and in the fifteenth century the Regimen Sanitatis of the Salerno Medical School recommended eating them. Between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the local ecotypes appear in agronomy manuals and in the catalogues of the leading seed companies.
After the Second World War the white spring onion remained central to farming in the Agro. Protected Designation of Origin status was granted in 2008.
Sources: Qualigeo — Cipollotto Nocerino DOP · Regione Campania — Prodotti tipici: Cipollotto Nocerino DOP
Area and method of production
The area is the Sarno valley basin: the Agro Nocerino Sarnese, in the province of Salerno, and the Pompeii-Stabiae area in the south-west of the province of Naples. The volcanic soils are loose, flat and very fertile.
The ground is prepared by ploughing about forty centimetres deep, followed by rotary tilling. Sowing can take place up to four times a year, in a seedbed or directly in the field, and seedlings are transplanted when 14-16 centimetres tall, with irrigation to help them take root.
The spring onion is harvested all year round, with slightly lower yields in summer, by hand or by machine, before the plant completes its cycle. The bulbs are sorted, washed and peeled: peeling, done only by hand, removes the outer layers to leave an intact, glossy product. Roots and leaves are then trimmed and the bunches tied.
Sources: Qualigeo — Cipollotto Nocerino DOP · Regione Campania — Prodotti tipici: Cipollotto Nocerino DOP
How to recognise it
Cipollotto Nocerino has a cylindrical bulb, slightly flattened and a little swollen at the base, between one and five centimetres across. The outer and inner layers are entirely white.
The leaves are deep green, linear and cylindrical, ending in a point. The bulb is tender and the flesh sweet, juicy, only mildly sharp and not hot, yet savoury and fragrant.
The local ecotypes linked to the PDO include Nocera, Precoce la Regina, Precoce Meraviglia, Marzatica fredda and calda, Nocerese, Bianca di Castellammare, San Michele and Giugnese. It is sold as first-class produce, in bunches of three to ten bulbs.
Sources: Qualigeo — Cipollotto Nocerino DOP · Regione Campania — Prodotti tipici: Cipollotto Nocerino DOP
In the kitchen
It is almost always used fresh, in salads with leafy greens and tomatoes. It also appears in pasta dishes and as a garnish for many other preparations, and is widely used in traditional Campanian cooking.
It is sought after by local cooks, who value it precisely for the tenderness of the bulb. The sweetness of its flesh, only mildly sharp and hot, makes it very easy to digest and well suited to eating raw.
It does not keep long: it is best eaten within a few days of purchase, stored in the fridge.
Sources: Qualigeo — Cipollotto Nocerino DOP · Regione Campania — Prodotti tipici: Cipollotto Nocerino DOP
Where to taste it
The spring onion is found in the towns of the Agro Nocerino Sarnese and the Pompeii-Stabiae area, where it is the most widely grown vegetable after the San Marzano tomato PDO.
In Pompeii the Lararium of the Sarno tells its oldest story: the same valley that two thousand years ago sent spring onions to the city along the river still grows them today.
Being harvested in almost every month, it is one of the few local products that can be tasted fresh in any season: a visit to Pompeii or the Stabiae area is the chance to taste it where it is grown, tied in bunches as tradition requires.
Sources: Regione Campania — Prodotti tipici: Cipollotto Nocerino DOP · Qualigeo — Cipollotto Nocerino DOP
Protection
- Protected designation of origin (PDO) — PDO-IT-0453 (eAmbrosia — Cipollotto Nocerino (PDO-IT-0453))
When
- Harvest: all year round (Qualigeo — Cipollotto Nocerino DOP)