Campania · Avellino

Cicci di Santa Lucia

Go to Avellino in December for the feeling of a dish that is not decoration but devotion: grain, legumes and peppers carried through winter by a saint’s day.

Geo AHistory CRitual AMethod A-

Origin place card

Provincia di Avellino

Verified history

The source describes an ancient votive tradition for Santa Lucia (13 December) across the Avellino province; no first-attestation date is given.

Ingredients

Mixed local cereals/legumes: white maize, soft wheat, chickpeas, beans, lentils; fried pickled round peppers, garlic.

Method

Cereals/legumes soaked ~12h, boiled together until water absorbed, then combined with lightly fried pickled round peppers and garlic.

Ritual / calendar

13 December, feast of Santa Lucia (patron of Avellino); votive dish.

Why travel for it

Go to Avellino in December for the feeling of a dish that is not decoration but devotion: grain, legumes and peppers carried through winter by a saint’s day.

Editorial warning

Do not turn this into a generic minestrone. The Santa Lucia vow and the Avellino territory are the page’s soul. | Page title is 'Cicci'; the page text itself supports the fuller name 'Cicci di Santa Lucia'. Territory is province-level, not a single comune.

Fieldwork questions

Ask Avellino families whether each household changes the grain mix; document whether the pepper preserve is homemade and what local name it takes.