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APULICA / FRUIT, VEGETABLES AND PULSES

Torzella riccia (curly Greek cabbage)

Slow Food Presidium · PAT · Fruit, vegetables and pulses · Campania

Apulica editorial team · Sources checked:

In brief

History and origin

Torzella is one of the oldest cabbages in the world. Its journey began more than four thousand years ago in the eastern Mediterranean, and through frequent exchanges between those shores and southern Italy it reached Campania with the name it still bears: Greek cabbage, or torza riccia.

The plain between Vesuvius and Nola, the Acerrano-Nolano, soon became its most important growing area. This is the fertile land the Romans called Campania Felix, volcanic and rich in water, where fields of torzella grew alongside cabbages and broccoli. For centuries it was a common ingredient of country cooking, ideal for facing the winter.

After the Second World War torzella almost vanished from Campania's gardens. It was recovered through a project funded by the Campania Region, kept in the regional plant germplasm bank, and today a group of Slow Food Presidium farmers is bringing it back into cultivation. It is listed among Campania's traditional products.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Torzella riccia · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura: Torzella (prodotti tradizionali) · Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026)

Area and method of production

The Presidium area includes many towns on the plain between the provinces of Naples and Caserta, among them Acerra, Afragola, Brusciano, Caivano, Casalnuovo, Cimitile, Marigliano, Nola, Palma Campania, Pomigliano d'Arco and Saviano, as far as Volla and Poggiomarino. It is flat land with mineral-rich volcanic soils and a mild climate.

Sowing takes place in the second half of July in a nursery or seedbed, and transplanting into the field in the second half of August, 40-60 centimetres apart. Torzella has adapted so well to the area that it needs almost no care, apart from some watering during long dry spells.

The decisive step is topping: once the plant is well grown the central shoot is removed, so that it produces many smaller, tender and tasty side shoots. They appear around November and are picked by hand, in several passes, until March and sometimes early April. The Presidium rules ban chemical weedkillers and require a three-year rotation with other vegetable families.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Torzella riccia

How to recognise it

Torzella riccia is an herbaceous plant with an autumn-winter cycle, from the Brassicaceae family. It reaches on average one metre in height and about seventy centimetres across, with a sturdy stem from which many shoots grow.

The leaves are fleshy, curly and dark green, and the flowers, when the plant bears them, are bright yellow. It is very hardy and stands up well to cold, which makes it a typical winter vegetable.

The part that is eaten is the small, tender side shoots that grow after topping. It is nourishing and low in fat, and farmers saw it as the right food for the arrival of the cold season.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Torzella riccia · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura: Torzella (prodotti tradizionali)

In the kitchen

Torzella shoots are eaten fresh in salads, or cooked in the soups of Neapolitan country cooking. In winter they are an essential ingredient of minestra maritata, a signature dish of Neapolitan tradition.

Torzella also pairs with seafood, raw or as a garnish. In summer it stars on Neapolitan tables as a preserve: after a brief cooking it goes well with San Marzano tomatoes.

Torzella in oil used to be made only for the family. Today the product is sold fresh, in oil or as a cream, to use as it is or to dress pasta.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Torzella riccia · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura: Torzella (prodotti tradizionali)

Where to taste it

Torzella is found on the Acerrano-Nolano plain, between Naples and Caserta: Acerra, Nola, Pomigliano d'Arco, Marigliano, Brusciano and the other Presidium towns, where a few farmers have brought it back into their gardens.

The season is winter: fresh shoots are harvested from November to March, which is when minestra maritata and torzella salads return to local kitchens. Preserves in oil and the cream make it available in the other months too.

Visitors to Nola and its surroundings in winter can link the discovery of this ancient cabbage to the fertile plain of Campania Felix, the fertile volcanic land the Romans already celebrated.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Torzella riccia · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura: Torzella (prodotti tradizionali)

Protection

When

Where

Campania