Chickpeas, legumes that have crossed history, healthy, energetic, aphrodisiac (for the Romans): the tradition of chickpeas from Navelli, in Abruzzo, Slow Food Presidium, where to buy them

Horace was fond of them and talks about them in the Satires. Useful for reducing cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood, rich in omega 3, particularly healthy for the heart. The recovery of the Navelli chickpeas which guarantees the natural sustainability of this cultivation. The list of producers of the Slow Food Presidium. The Fracchiata, polenta made from legume and cereal flours.

A poor but very nutritious dish, chickpeas – like all legumes – have an ancient history. Horace speaks of it in his Satires, praising in the 1st century BC, upon returning from an evening stroll in the Forum, a tasty dish of chickpeas, leeks and lagana, a sort of anticipation of the pasta and chickpeas which would later become a classic of Italian regional cuisine: “inde domum me ad leeks et ciceris refero laganique catinum”.

Poor but very tasty dish appreciated for its flavour and above all for its energetic properties to the point that it was never missing from the diets of soldiers and gladiators, even then it was not afraid to compete with more noble and expensive dishes as emerges from the testimony of a crapulous lunch-show set up by the freedman Trimalchio in Petronius' Satyricon where they were served together with peacock eggs, honey dormice, lobsters…

Tasty, delicious but also…aphrodisiacs, at least the Romans were convinced of it, so, according to what Pliny reported, they were called “Venus chickpeas” and were consumed in licentious ritual vigils where the sacred and the profane coexisted happily.

Useful for reducing cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood, rich in omega 3 which are particularly healthy for the heart.

We talked about their nutraceutical properties of their beneficial effects on the body which can be summarized as follows: in addition to being excellent sources of vegetable proteins, fibres and vitamins (especially from the B group) and two very important minerals for the well-being of the body, magnesium and phosphorus, they also contain many saponins, substances useful for reducing cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood. The quantity of omega 3 fatty acids (especially linoleic acid) contained in them also makes chickpeas particularly healthy for the heart.

The Humanitas website goes into more detail, providing a comprehensive overview of the substances and vitamins contained in a plate of chickpeas: among the minerals we find sodium, potassium, iron, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, copper and selenium. But they also contain thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin (vitamin B3 or vitamin PP), vitamin A retinol eq. traces of vitamin C and vitamin E.

Historically they are very widespread throughout Basilicata, where they are the protagonists of the brigand's dish, since it is said that was a delicacy for the Lucanian brigands of the nineteenth century; in Campania where they are very common in the south of the province of Salerno and in particular in Cilento where they are often prepared with lagàne, an ancient type of pasta similar to shorter and wider tagliatelle, mentioned in the works of Horace, from which it takes its usual name Laganas and chickpeas.

In Puglia, they become chickpeas and tria, the oldest first course and symbol of Salento cuisine in which a part of the pasta is fried and then added to the dish together with the remainder and chickpeas, an integral part of the Tables of San Giuseppe.

Despite their history, however, the production of some precious qualities of chickpeas, the pride of Italian biodiversity, was dangerously declining, unable to withstand the onslaught of foreign productions that were more economically convenient for the market but certainly of lower organoleptic quality. This is the case of Chickpeas from Navelli in Abruzzo, a village in the province of L'Aquila whose name it bears, which, with its 500 inhabitants, it is located at about 700 meters above sea level and dominates the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Gran Sasso, fortunately joined the Slow Food Presidia.

The Presidium involved the few producers remaining in Navelli and the surrounding villages, in an area that has been undergoing a slow process of depopulation for decades, which intensified after the 2009 earthquake. production reaches 10 – 15 quintals per hectare and comes only from the fields, well drained and exposed to the sun, which have been chosen for this cultivation. The producers have come together and given themselves a production specification that guarantees the natural sustainability of this cultivation. Their goal is to enhance the product not only on the local market, but also the gastronomic recovery of this legume in catering.

The recovery of Navelli chickpeas which guarantees the natural sustainability of this cultivation

The cultivation of chickpeas together with that of grass peas and lentils was rooted in Abruzzo since the Middle Ages. Historical documents confirm the production of this type of legume in the Navelli area since 1800, when it seems three varieties of chickpeas were in use: white, red and black. Around the middle of 1700, the monks of the convent of San Domenico in Chieti purchased both red and white chickpeas and, in 1836, Mozzetti noted that Navelli was still interested in the cultivation of the legume introduced from Spain where a variety was in use that was distinguished by the size of the seeds. Usually the chickpeas were eaten in soup, cooked with pasta or ground into flour to make fracchiata, a polenta made from flours of other legumes and cereals. Roasted chickpeas in a pot with wine were a food prepared during convivial moments, in cellars, among friends and were never missing even at the stalls of religious holidays.

The historian from Teramo Quartapelle wrote in 1801 “with chickpea flour you make a sort of polenta, which our farmers like very much; it is still used to make good fried food. The same is combined with wheat flour to make bread. With white chickpeas cooked in water, and then crushed, you make ravioli, a dish of crushed chickpeas seasoned with pepper and honey or sugar and closed in small pieces of pasta”. A curiosity. The Trigram (or the Latin transcription of the Greek name of Jesus, IHS or JJS) present inside the Basilica of San Bernardino de L'Aquila, has a link with the Navelli chickpea. In fact, based on the studies conducted, it seems that the chickpeas were glued to the wooden plank that supports the work to make the surface irregular and rough. Gilded and stuccoed, the chickpeas were used to create a defined chiaroscuro effect.

In Abruzzo, chickpeas are used in many preparations, but the ritual dish, substantial and nutritious, which warmed the body and opened the Christmas Eve dinner was, and is, chickpea soup.

Boiled chickpeas, crushed and mixed with honey, also constitute the filling of delicious Abruzzo Christmas sweets, called little footballs.