Fruit, vegetables and pulses

Torzella riccia (curly Greek cabbage)

Torzella riccia, the ancient curly Greek cabbage of the Acerra-Nola plain

Brought to Campania from the eastern Mediterranean and still called Greek cabbage, torzella is grown mainly on the volcanic plain around Acerra and Nola. Once the plant is well grown its central shoot is pinched out, and from November to March the many small, tender side shoots are picked by hand. A Slow Food Presidium has returned it to the fields, and it is a traditional agri-food product (PAT) of Campania.

• Fleshy, curly, dark green leaves on a sturdy plant about a metre tall
• What you eat are the small, tender, flavourful shoots that sprout after topping
• Hardy and cold-resistant, a vegetable for the heart of winter

How to enjoy it. Eat it raw in salads or with seafood, or cooked in a winter minestra maritata; preserved in oil or as a cream, it dresses pasta through the rest of the year.

Production areas

Campania

Season

[object Object]

The full story, sources and places on apulica.com →