In the markets of the Agro Nocerino-Sarnese you will always find bunches of spring onions, white with bright green leaves. We tasted it raw, in a salad, and were surprised by how sweet it is. Meet the Cipollotto Nocerino DOP.
What a cipollotto is
The cipollotto is an onion harvested fresh, before the plant is fully mature. The Nocera variety has a cylindrical bulb, slightly flattened at the base, with a diameter of 1 to 5 centimetres, white skins and deep green leaves. Its qualities are the tenderness of the bulb and the sweetness of its flesh, which has very little bite.
The production area
Cipollotto Nocerino has been a Protected Designation of Origin since 2008. The area covers the basin of the Sarno valley in the province of Salerno (with towns such as Nocera Inferiore, Nocera Superiore, Pagani, Angri, Scafati, Sarno and San Marzano sul Sarno), and the Pompeii and Stabiae area in the province of Naples, with towns such as Pompeii, Boscoreale, Gragnano and Castellammare di Stabia.
The ecotypes
The product specification allows several local ecotypes, each with its own season: among them Precoce la Regina, Marzatica (cold and warm), Nocerese, Bianca di Castellammare, San Michele and Giugnese. Thanks to this range of ecotypes, sowing can take place all year round, and the cipollotto is on market stalls in almost every season.
A two-thousand-year history
The bond between this land and the onion is very old: in Pompeii the onion appears in frescoes painted some two thousand years ago. In the Middle Ages it is mentioned by the Scuola Medica Salernitana in its famous Regimen Sanitatis. Between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the local types appear in seed catalogues and agronomy manuals. Much of its quality is also owed to the volcanic soils of the valley.
In the kitchen
Raw, it is perfect in summer salads with tomatoes and olive oil. Cooked, it becomes very sweet: we suggest trying it stewed with a little tomato as a side dish, or in frittatas. It is also an excellent ingredient in seafood sauces.
Where to taste it and what is nearby
The production area borders the excavations described in Herculaneum and Pompeii: what to see. The same valley grows the Pomodoro San Marzano dell'Agro Sarnese-Nocerino DOP, and Pagani is home to the Arance di Pagani oranges. For the history of medieval medicine, read The Minerva Garden and the Scuola Medica Salernitana. All the designations are in Campania's DOP and IGP products, and the province in Salerno and its surroundings.
Sources: Qualigeo – Cipollotto Nocerino DOP; Product specification.
Photo at top (Nocera Inferiore): Gianluca Santangelo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
