What it is
A small round white bean of Villaricca, also called tondino or quarantino, used in soups and Neapolitan pasta e fagioli.
Origin place card
The page belongs to Villaricca and the Giuglianese in the province of Naples.
Verified history
The source preserves local names and cultivation practices but no dated first attestation. Treat this as source-supported tradition/history from Regione Campania — Fagiolo di Villaricca; The current evidence does not independently establish a founder, precise origin date, first attestation, monastery, saint, or archival origin story.
Local hypothesis
The old name Panicocoli/Panecuocole made Villaricca a bread town in another page; this bean gives the same area a second food identity. Source-supported detail: Villaricca bean is very digestible, easy to cook and with a very intense flavour, it is used to prepare soups like the typical Neapolitan pasta and beans as an alternative to fresh beans ultimo aggiornamento 29 agosto 2019
Local legend / oral tradition
No legend is documented.
Ingredients
Il fagiolo di Villaricca è molto digeribile, di facile cottura e di sapore molto intenso e si utilizza per preparare zuppe e minestre come per la tipica pasta e fagioli napoletana in alternativa ai fagioli freschi.
Method
Grow on cane supports, pick pods unripe, let them mature and dry in the sun, beat to separate beans, and store in cloth sacks; use in soups, minestre and pasta e fagioli. Source-supported detail: Le piante, secondo le tradizionali tecniche di coltura della specie, vengono "incannate", cioè fatte arrampicare su sostegni costruiti con canne; i suoi baccelli vengono raccolti ancora acerbi e vengono lasciati maturare al sole fino a seccarsi, per poi essere battuti
Ritual / calendar
è detto anche "tondino", per la sua forma, o "quarantino", a causa del suo ciclo vegetativo di circa quaranta giorni.
Why travel for it
This page can link Villaricca’s bread memory to another humble food worth travelling for.
Recreate-it pathway
Produce/provenance page: do not publish invented quantities; recover and test local recipes or preparation variants before final A+ recipe status.
Editorial warning
Do not merge with generic tondino/quarantino beans outside the Villaricca context.
Fieldwork questions
Which Giuglianese growers still incannano the plants? Is the bean sold under tondino or Villaricca name?
Photo brief
Cane supports, small round white beans, sun-dried pods, pasta e fagioli pot.