“Terra quae cicera alit” that is “the land that feeds the chickpeas” if the sentence we read next to a small chickpea plant on the fleg of the town of Cicerale, in the province of Salerno, and from which most likely the town derives it name. Its territory has an excellent disposition to the production of chickpeas, its cultivation is very ancient and the almost ritual productive rules have remained the same through time. When the seed is mature, the plants are extirpated, laid on bags made of jute, covered and then knocked down with big wooden sticks, later the pods are separated to ventilate them and finally packaged. Cicerale chickpea is rather small and characterised by a slightly darker colour than normal; it has a low humidity content at harvest that allows to preserve it for a long time and it increases its size noticeably while cooking; it is appreciated for its organoleptic qualities and it is used in many local recipes.
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Mappatura dei Prodotti Tipici e Tradizionali 2005 - Regione Campania, Settore Se.SIRCA