APULICA / FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND PULSES
Nocciola di Giffoni (hazelnut)
PGI · Fruit, vegetables and pulses · Campania
In brief
- It is the hazelnut of the Tonda di Giffoni variety, sold dried or roasted, in or out of the shell. (Qualigeo — Nocciola di Giffoni IGP)
- It is grown in several municipalities in the province of Salerno. (Qualigeo — Nocciola di Giffoni IGP)
- Being an early variety, harvest starts in the third week of August. (Qualigeo — Nocciola di Giffoni IGP)
- The ivory, highly aromatic kernel peels easily and stands up well to roasting. (Qualigeo — Nocciola di Giffoni IGP)
History and origin
Campania is regarded as one of the lands where hazelnut growing has its oldest roots. The species' scientific name, Corylus avellana, says as much: the ancient name of the hazel, avellano, comes from the town of Abella, today's Avella, in the province of Avellino. Latin writers and poets mention it from the third century BC, a fresco at Herculaneum shows hazel plants and charred hazelnut remains are kept at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.
The first evidence of specialised cultivation around Giffoni dates from the Middle Ages, but it was under the Bourbons, as trade with the rest of Italy and abroad grew, that the hazelnut took on real economic weight. At the end of the eighteenth century the Salerno historian Vincenzo De Caro wrote that the «nocella» tree thrived wonderfully across much of the Giffoni lands.
In the twentieth century the crop expanded in response to strong demand from the confectionery industry. The PGI was recognised in 1997.
Sources: Qualigeo — Nocciola di Giffoni IGP · Regione Campania — Nocciola di Giffoni IGP · eAmbrosia — Nocciola di Giffoni (PGI-IT-1538)
Area and method of production
The production area covers twelve municipalities in the province of Salerno, in the Irno valley and the Picentini Mountains: Acerno, Baronissi, Calvanico, Castiglione del Genovesi, Fisciano, Giffoni Sei Casali, Giffoni Valle Piana, Montecorvino Pugliano, Montecorvino Rovella, Olevano sul Tusciano, San Cipriano Picentino and San Mango Piemonte. Here the hazel has always grown wild too, and the volcanic soils are highly fertile.
The plants are trained in the area's traditional forms, as multi-stemmed bushes, bush vases or small trees, with no more than 660 plants per hectare; hedge and Y systems are also allowed. Up to 10% of other varieties is permitted for pollination.
Tonda di Giffoni is an early cultivar: harvest starts from the third week of August. The nuts are sorted, sized and dried to a moisture content of no more than 6%, then stored in cool, airy, odour-free rooms. Those destined for industry are shelled with rollers and roasted in fan ovens.
Sources: Qualigeo — Nocciola di Giffoni IGP · Regione Campania — Nocciola di Giffoni IGP
How to recognise it
Nocciola di Giffoni is of the Tonda di Giffoni variety. The shell is woody, of medium thickness, brown with darker stripes. The kernel, the shelled nut, is almost spherical and ivory-coloured, with firm white flesh and a very aromatic flavour.
The inner skin is thin and comes away easily: so the nut peels well and stands up to roasting and sizing, helped by its medium, even size. These are the qualities that make it so sought after by the confectionery industry.
It is sold dried, in the shell or shelled, and roasted, shelled and skinned; it is also available as chopped hazelnuts and hazelnut flour with geographical indication.
Sources: Qualigeo — Nocciola di Giffoni IGP · Regione Campania — Nocciola di Giffoni IGP
In the kitchen
Tonda di Giffoni is excellent plain, in the shell or shelled as a snack, and it is this direct eating that has revived interest in the product. It is also enjoyed coated in chocolate, with honey or in nougat.
In Salerno cooking the hazelnut goes into small cakes, tarts, ice creams, creams and hazelnut liqueurs, but also into less usual pasta dishes and meat main courses. Industry turns it into paste, chopped nuts and flour, the raw materials for many sweets.
It keeps in dry, cool, airy places, which preserve its aroma.
Sources: Qualigeo — Nocciola di Giffoni IGP · Regione Campania — Nocciola di Giffoni IGP
Where to taste it
The emblematic town is Giffoni Valle Piana, home of the protection consortium: according to the Region, the hazelnut is, together with the famous children's film festival, the image of this place around the world. The hazel groves stretch through the villages of the Picentini Mountains and the Irno valley, from Giffoni Sei Casali to San Cipriano Picentino, from Montecorvino Rovella and Olevano sul Tusciano to Acerno, Baronissi and Fisciano.
Late summer is harvest time, when work in the groves multiplies. Dried and roasted hazelnuts, chopped nuts, creams and sweets are available all year round, also through the short supply chain that growers are developing.
For anyone exploring the Picentini Mountains, the hazel groves are part of the hilly landscape between the woods and the villages.
Sources: Regione Campania — Nocciola di Giffoni IGP · Qualigeo — Nocciola di Giffoni IGP
Protection
- Protected geographical indication (PGI) — PGI-IT-1538 (eAmbrosia — Nocciola di Giffoni (PGI-IT-1538))
When
- The sources consulted give no months.
Where
Read more
Nocciola di Giffoni PGI
Twelve towns near Salerno, one cultivar, the Tonda di Giffoni: the long history of the Campanian hazelnut, PGI rules, the late-August harvest, uses in pastry and cooking.
Read the guide →